Sonic the Hedgehog: Race to Glory
by BLACKOUT14
Summary: Dr. Eggman is at it again, and it's up to Sonic to stop him. Using a group of elite mercenaries known as the Arcane Renegades, could the evil scientist finally prove too much for our favorite blue hedgehog to handle?
1. Prologue

**Prologue: Into the Darkness**

It was a dark depressing day in Nie, but that wasn't news. Ruled by outlaws and rule breakers, Nie was perhaps the single most disgusting city in the entire world. But tonight, something extra suspicious was stirring, as a dark enigmatic figure stood at the intersection of Time Street and Firewood Lane with three figures behind him. Another shadow then arrived to greet them.

"Ah, so you're the Arcane Renegades, am I correct?" asked the mysterious villain.

"Yeah…you got the money?" asked the dark figure in the front of his pack.

The lone figure turned around and with the click of his briefcase, presented the warrior with money beyond his comprehension, "There's gotta be at least fifty thousand here…who are you?" asked the warrior of the Arcane Renegades.

"Call me a friend…" snarled the evil man, "I have an extra special job for you, so I thought you could use some extra special persuasion."

The leader of the Arcane Renegades closed the briefcase, "Tank," he said, and gave the briefcase to the largest warrior in the group, "what's the case?"

The lone man gave a shrilling laugh and turned his figure towards the rest of the group, "I want you to take somebody out, somebody who's been haunting my very existence since the day we met. I want you to take out Sonic the Hedgehog and his friends."

The warrior of the Arcane Renegades forced a dull laugh, "Is that it? That shouldn't be too hard, and I'm looking forward to the opportunity to carry out this task."

The lone man smiled, "What's your name, son?" he asked.

"You can call me Spike," he said, "leader of the Arcane Renegades of Nie."

The lone man looked at Spike, "I've heard of you, the toughest gang of bandits in all of Nie, this should prove to be much more than that pathetic hedgehog can handle. Oh, by the way, there is one more other thing…" the man smiled.

"What's that?" Spike asked.

The man smiled, "I want you to bring me the seven Chaos Emeralds…"

The large warrior named Tank gave a sudden leap of shock, and the two other warriors behind Spike gasped. After a long silence, and much thinking about how to respond to the man's command, Spike said, "The Chaos Emeralds of legend? You want us to bring them to you? Why?"

"Now, you should really not temper in affairs that don't concern you," the man laughed. He then turned around and took a few steps before stopping, "Are you up to the challenge?"

Spike leapt forward, "The Arcane Renegades can and will take on any order without hesitation, you just wait and see!" he roared with pride in his own abilities.

The man smiled again, but before he could speak Spike interrupted again and asked, "Who are you?"

"Me?" the man asked, "You can call me Eggman."


	2. Chapter 1

-1**Chapter 1: Enter the Hedgehog**

There is evil in the city of Nie, but there is just as much good on the other side of the country, in the city of Westopolis where a certain blue hedgehog is about to embark on a journey like no other…

Sonic the Hedgehog was running through the mountains as he does every day, yet this has been an unusual day, even for Sonic. The birds flew by with panicked expressions that signaled fear afoot, which Sonic knew better than anybody how to handle. Yet, most of the time it's the calm before the storm that's the scary part, and that's what frightened Sonic, he had no idea what was going on, just that he had to do something about it.  
As Sonic passed the hunched mountain and ran up the 90 degree angle to his favorite resting spot, he noticed more birds flying away from the same direction as before.  
"Man, what's up with this? I've never seen anything like it…" Sonic panted as he took his seat next to the edge of the cliff.  
The birds looked restless, and didn't fly in their normal formation; they almost looked like they were thinking but nothing save their own lives, which is not the nature of the birds of Westopolis. Sonic knew them well, he'd seen these birds before, but they were not this out of control.  
Just then a small open-topped jet flew up to the top of the mountain, when it landed, Sonic knew just what to expect: his old friend Tails. Tails jumped out of his vehicle and made his way towards Sonic, "You saw it too, didn't you?" the three-tailed Fox asked.  
Sonic nodded slowly, "Yeah, the birds are acting…strange, like they've lost all sense of control and are just trying to escape with their lives, it's not like them."   
Tails and Sonic both looked into the horizon, when Sonic got an idea, "Let's go," he said bravely with his left hand curled into a fist.  
Tails looked at him, "What are you talking about? Go where?" he asked curiously, praying that Sonic wasn't about to give the answer he was thinking.  
"We're gonna see where those birds are flying from, and see what's intimidating them. We'll stop this thing before it starts!" Sonic shouted and got to his feet. Tails shook his head, however.  
"You're crazy! The two of us?" he asked.  
"Yup, are you up to it?" Sonic asked Tails, hoping for a positive response.  
Tails hesitated for a moment, then looked into Sonic's eyes. Sonic needed no answer, the determined look on Tails' face was more than enough, they were going to find out just what was going on, and they were going to stop it no matter what it took. 


	3. Chapter 2

-1**Chapter 2: The Arcane Renegades**

After a long journey, Sonic and Tails finally reached the place where the birds had been flying away from all along. What they found surprised them to no end: A laboratory the size of an airport.

"What the heck is this doing here?" Sonic asked himself.

Tails gasped, "This is…this is insane! Why is there a laboratory in the middle of nowhere!?"

The two heroes walked forward and pushed open the doors, at least, they started to open the doors when out of nowhere, Sonic was slammed into the ground.

"Sonic!" Tails screeched, but he too was nailed by an unseen force.

The two rubbed their heads and slowly got up, and when they did, they saw four warriors standing before them.

"Who…who are you?" Sonic asked weakly.

"You should be concerned more with your own identity at the time, blue hedgehog," the one in the front of the pack said coolly.

Sonic and Tails stood up and fronted their competitors, "Look, our business is not with you! Move aside!" Sonic ordered.

The leader gave a small forced laugh, "I don't think so, you see, we've been hired to exterminate you," the leader said again.

"Exterminate us? Who hired you?" Tails demanded.

"Enough!" The leader said, and flung his right arm to the side, "Tank, take them!" he commanded.

"Yes sir!" the warrior named Tank bellowed, and he jumped from the shadows.

Tank was an armadillo that appeared to be about the age of 18. He was the largest of the four warriors, and extremely muscular. He wore golden plates around his legs and arms for protection, as well as extra weight when he struck his foes.

Sonic and Tails leapt out of the way, as Tank slammed into the ground, "So, it's true, you're pretty fast," he snarled in a somewhat deep voice.

Just then, Tank curled himself up into a ball and shot himself forward like a cannonball, and hit Tails square in the chest and knocked him out cold.

Tails didn't move, and Sonic was furious. He dashed forward and used a homing attack to collide with Tank, both in ball forms, however, in the end Sonic was shoved aside by the massive warrior.

Sonic once again got back up, "Man, you're strong," he said and looked over at the three warriors standing still. The leader had his arms crossed, and black sunglasses on with a small grin on. He was a porcupine with spikes that went all the way down his head and back, with a small pointed tail. He also wore red shoes trimmed with black, and two brown stripes went down each of his sides, and in the middle was a brown patch on his stomach. He also wore what appeared to be a fighting vest with tall shoulder plates that went upward and rounded at the top which went up to his chin. Overall, he looked just as intimidating as his bodyguard.

Just then, Tank slammed into Sonic's back, and Sonic went crashing into the mountain to the right of the laboratory.

"I'm disappointed, I've heard such great things about you," Tank laughed.

Sonic rubbed his head again and got to his feet, "Well then don't look so disappointed," he said, "'cause I'm just gettin' warmed up!"

He leapt into the air and dove downward at Tank, who then curled into his ball and negated Sonic's futile attack. Sonic then dashed sideways and then back at Tank, he jumped yet again, but this time he dashed around Tank in circles. Sonic's feet started going airborn, and soon he was spinning around Tank so quickly that a small tornado appeared and lifted the massive giant into the air and threw him sideways.

Sonic landed and panted, but he wasn't safe yet. Tank once again got to his feet and growled at Sonic, "You little runt, I didn't think anybody had that kind of speed, even you…"

Sonic laughed, "That wasn't even my fastest," he bragged, and dashed forward again. Tank stuck out his fist, and when Sonic collided with it, he went flying backwards, while Tank merely skidded three or four inches.

Not only did Sonic not move, but he was unconscious. Tank slowly moved toward Sonic and reached for the hedgehog, when out of nowhere Tank was blasted away by a small laser.

The rest of the Arcane Renegades looked around, and saw Tails the fox inside of the jet. Spike grinned.

As the rubble cleared, Sonic and Tank both emerged, both in very bad shape, "Quit fooling around now Tank, get what we came here for…" Spike ordered.

Tank nodded, "Sorry bud, but I'm gonna have to finish this now," he said with a certain amount of satisfaction. Tank took one step forward towards Sonic, who could in now way defend himself.

"Why don't you pick on somebody your own size?" asked a voice, and as everybody turned around, Knuckles the Echidna was standing on the cliff.


	4. Chapter 3

-1**Chapter 3: Collisions of Power**

Knuckles stepped forward, "Hey Sonic, I'll handle this," he said calmly.  
Sonic kneeled down, "Thanks Knuckles," he said, "I could really use a breather."  
Knuckles chuckled to himself, he'd never seen Sonic so worn out. Tank was still breathing heavily, "No fair, they're replenishing their fighters!" one of the mysterious Arcane Renegades complained.  
"Shut up Tick," Tank ordered.  
Tick then emerged out of the shadows, he was an armadillo like Tank, but much smaller. He looked to be about 13, and had golden armor plates around his forearms. Out of these armor pieces came silver blades with razor sharp edges. Like Tank, Tick was bald and had pointed ears.  
"Well then finish this job," Tick said smugly.  
Tank spat to his side, "So your name's Knuckles, isn't it?" he asked.  
"Yeah, Knuckles the Echidna!" Knuckles roared with pride.  
Tank smiled, "Excellent, I've heard of you, you're supposed to be powerful, stronger than Sonic, but your speed is a little underdog, ain't it?" he asked curiously.  
Knuckles closed his eyes and smiled, "You'll soon see," he said, and with those words, he vanished in a blinding red light.  
Knuckles then appeared behind Tank and punched him in the back and he went flying. After Tank slowly got back to his feet, Knuckles once again sped forward, this time though, punching Tank in the face with his spikes on his hand.  
Tank stepped back, clutching his bleeding face. He then gripped the mountain and remained still. Knuckles raised his fist, and readied the final blow, and let loose.  
Just as Knuckles fired his punch, Tank raised the palm of his hand and grabbed Knuckles' fist and squeezed so hard that Knuckles too fell to the ground.  
On the other side of the battlefield, Tails readied another laser cannon fire which he would use on all four of the Arcane Renegades. He charged, but just as he was about to let his cannon-fire go, a small ball crashed into Tail's jet and made it explode.  
Tails managed to get to his feet, and saw what looked to be a miniature version of Tank in his ball form. The ball uncoiled itself and Tick emerged, "Alright bro, if you take care of Knuckles, I'll cook this fox here," he sneered.  
Tails backed off, knowing he was no match for the warrior by himself. On the other side of the field, Knuckles had been tossed against the laboratory wall by Tank, and was being severely punished.  
"So this is it, eh?" the final Arcane Renegade asked, and as she emerged from the shadows with the others, her appearance was clear. She was a Mara that wore a full black body suit and had two yellow stripes going down each side and had brown hair that reached down to the back of her head. Her ears were pointed, and she had no tail.  
Spike looked at her, "Yes, it appears so, although that blue hedgehog was faster than I expected."  
Jade smiled, "Yes, but they at least were able to get the job done," she said coolly.  
Tank threw Knuckles on the ground, yet he still rose to his feet to meet his challenger, "You'll not have your satisfaction with me monster!" Knuckles screamed.  
The renegade laughed, "Really? Well then I guess I'll have to" he started, but just then Knuckles threw a flurry of punches that sent Tank flying back.  
Knuckles didn't stop there, though. He chased his foe and curled his fists together and raised them over his head and pounded Tank's stomach and sent him crashing to the ground.  
"No way!" Jade screeched.  
Once again the smoke cleared, and Tank had once again gotten to his feet, "What are you?" Knuckles asked.  
Tank didn't answer, but he spread his fingers apart, and long steel nails that looked to be about 3 inches emerged from his fingertips on each finger. Knuckles gasped, and as Tank charged, he ran for his life.  
On the other side of the field, Tails and Tick stared each other down, and as Tick dashed forward, Tails was lucky enough to jump into the air and come crashing back down with his right foot to send Tick crashing into the rubble of his jet.  
"ENOUGH!" Spike yelled louder than any screams that had occurred in the battle, "Tank, Tick, let's go. Arcane Renegades, out!"  
Tank and Tick followed their boss without hesitation, and the four of them dashed back into the darkness without much opposition from Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles.  
The three heroes rested for a bit, before they decided to make their way into the laboratory. 


	5. Chapter 4

-1**Chapter 4: The Scheme of Dr. Eggman**

After about an hour of rest, Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails all prepared to enter the laboratory they had been fighting outside of for nearly 2 hours.  
"What do you think made those freaks wanna leave?" Knuckles asked.  
"Honestly," Sonic started, "I have no idea. I know those other two could've probably come out and finished us, but I'm still not sure why they chose to retreat."  
When they all three approached the door, Sonic slowly pushed it open, "No locks?" Tails asked surprised.  
They walked in, and found the lights turned off and nobody inside. The heroes continued inside silently, hoping that things would continue to be abandoned. They reached the end of the room and pushed another door open and found test tubes and cylinders with small squirmy creatures inside. There were several people working on them, and Sonic pushed the other two down to the ground, "We have to try and sneak by, I know there's something inside the main chamber of the lab…" Sonic said in a hushed voice.  
They crawled carefully through the testing room, under tables and around feet, until one of Tails' tails accidentally knocked one of the chairs over.  
"What the-?" one of the scientists shrieked.  
"Blast! Nice work Tails!" Knuckles roared.  
"Sorry, I didn't mean to!" Tails apologized.  
Sonic grunted, "No time now guys, we've gotta jet!" he ordered, and they took off at full speed.  
As they were running one of the scientists picked up an ectoplasm ray and fired it at Sonic's feet, a direct hit. Sonic's feet were glued to the ground, and Knuckles and Tails tried to pull him free. Just then a barrier surrounded them, and the doors before them opened.  
"Well, Sonic the Hedgehog, my old rival," said the voice of Dr. Eggman.  
Knuckles and Tails guarded Sonic as if he were a treasure chest containing millions of pounds of gold, "Back off lard face!" Tails commanded.  
Eggman laughed, "You're really in no position to be making demands fox boy!" He then pressed a button and the three heroes were shocked with ten thousand watts of energy, each one of them passed out.

Slowly, Sonic awoke from his slumber to find himself strapped down to a table with his hands and legs cuffed at each end of the table. To his left, Knuckles, and to his right, Tails. All three of them had been captured by Dr. Eggman, and he could vaguely make out the voice of the good doctor himself in the opposite room.  
"But you let them escape!" Eggman's voice shouted.  
"My men were getting pulverized, you didn't tell me that they'd be that powerful! My warriors have never been damaged, let alone injured!" the voice of Spike of the Arcane Renegades argued.  
After a deep sigh, Eggman said, "No matter, they are in my custody now, accompany me to the Test Room so that nothing else goes wrong, and I will consider your contract complete."  
"Very well," Spike agreed.  
Dr. Eggman walked into the room, followed by all four of the Arcane Renegades, "Ah, Sonic, you're awake, excellent!" Eggman said with glee.  
"You scum!" Sonic spat.  
"Now Sonic, is that any way to talk to a man of my status? I could easily cut you in half now, but I won't…I'm not that kind of man," the crazed doctor said to his new lab experiment.  
"What are you up to this time? Still the same old story, eh?" Sonic asked, partially laughing at the ridiculousness of all of Eggman's schemes that he's laid in the past.  
Eggman chuckled, "I suppose there's no hurt in telling you now, seeing as there's nothing you can do to stop me."  
Sonic squinted his eyes, hoping for a response other than, "I'm going to take over the world!"  
"I plan on retrieving the 7 Chaos Emeralds, four of which I now have in my possession," Dr. Eggman admitted.  
"So, you took the two Chaos Emeralds that I had, and the ones that Knuckles and Tails both had, didn't you?" Sonic asked grimly.  
"Indeed," Eggman said with class, "and, I plan to use them to fuel my newest machine. The Rejuvenation Chamber will allow me to not only return to my youthful years, but will grant me infinite power that the likes of you could never know!"  
Sonic laughed, "So, you ARE trying to take over the world!" he laughed so hard his side started hurting.  
Eggman merely smiled, "We'll see who's laughing when eternal glory and power is mine Sonic! You will know the wrath of Dr. Eggman!" he started, but was interrupted by Jade.  
"We've got company," she said, her tall pointed ears perched straight up.  
"What is it?" Tank asked.  
Just then four ninja stars came flying down from the rafters of the room, and each of them cut the cuffs on each of Sonic's hands and feet.   
"No! Seize him!" Eggman ordered, and Tick took off after him.  
Sonic leapt forward and used a Homing Attack to knock Dr. Eggman against the opposite wall. He then spun around only to be nailed in the face by Tick in his ball form.  
Three more ninja stars came flying down and pinned Eggman by his shirt to the wall, and the figure of Espio the chameleon snapped down to the ground from the rafters, "Vector, now!" he said in his deep ninja voice.  
Vector crashed through the doors and threw Charmy the bee at full power, and his stinger hit Tick square in the chest, injecting immobilization fluids into his body.  
"They're only temporary Sonic, let's get moving!" Vector yelled.  
"What about Knuckles and Tails?" Sonic asked.  
"Forget about them, we'll have to save them another time! We have to regroup!" Espio said.  
Sonic looked in front of him and saw Jade raise her palm, then curl it into a fist. A small laser gun came out of the machine she wore around her wrist, and she fired three shots at Sonic.  
Sonic dodged each shot and then used a Homing Attack on Jade and sent her flying backwards. Jade then quickly got up and did a flip behind Sonic, and shot him in the back with her laser.  
Espio rushed forward and shot two more ninja stars that pinned Jade the Mara against the wall by the shoulder pieces of her bodysuit.  
Sonic slowly got to his feet and saw none other than Spike, the leader of the Arcane Renegades hovering above him, "Goodbye, blue hedgehog," he said, and lifted his black sunglasses up.  
Sonic back against the wall, not knowing what to expect from this menacing foe. He then saw Vector had been taken down by Tank, and Espio had been tangled up in a battle against Tick. Spike raised each hand at a 90 degree angle to his sides, and small holes started opening up in his entire body.  
"What is this?" Sonic asked.  
"My special technique, I can open up every pore in my body, and fire microscopic, yet razor sharp needles in all angle of directions," Spike said smugly.  
Sonic's eyes widened, and he dashed to the side, "Nothing will save you now!" Spike laughed, and prepared for his attack. Tick grabbed Jade and Eggman and rushed into another room, and quickly shut the doors so Sonic couldn't enter. Tank curled into his ball form to avoid damage from Spike's attack, while Vector, Sonic, Charmy, Espio, Tails, and Knuckles remained open for attack.  
Espio dashed forward and threw a ninja star at Spike, who jumped over it and fired a few hundred needles out of his back that hit Espio and penetrated the surface of his skin.  
After he remained on the ground for about five seconds, Vector decided to charge, followed by Charmy.  
Spike smiled, and started yelling so that his attack would begin, but he was then hit by a small orange and black ball that seemed to have come out from nowhere. Sonic looked to his right, and saw a hole in every wall in the laboratory in a straight line until he could see the sunlight of the outside world.  
The ball seemed to then vanish just as quickly as it came, and Spike struggled to his feet. As Tank was in ball form, he couldn't hear anything that was going on outside, so he remained hidden.  
Vector picked Espio up and Charmy aided Sonic to his feet, "What about my friends?" Sonic asked.  
The doors behind them opened, and Tick and Jade walked out ready to fight.  
"We've gotta go now Sonic!" Vector yelled, and the huge green alligator busted through another wall. Sonic followed and looked back one more time at his friends which would remain prisoners of Dr. Eggman.  
When the arrived outside, Vector laid Espio on his stomach, he was still breathing, but barely. His entire backside was covered in tiny needles, there were thousands of them.  
"Charmy, can you use any of your remedies to fix this wound up? It's a pretty big job," Vector explained.  
"I can try boss," Charmy said hesitantly, and Vector then picked Espio back up.  
"We'll discuss this more at Chaotix HQ, for now, let's get out of here!" Vector said, and Sonic and Charmy followed.


	6. Chapter 5

-1**Chapter 5: The Chaotix Detective Agency**

After a long night's sleep, Sonic awoke the next morning in a room he'd seen only several times before. He knew he was in the Chaotix Detective Agency's HQ. He stood up and walked through the door to his left and saw Vector, Espio, and Charmy all sitting at a long rectangular table. Sonic took his seat at the far end of it before they even realized he was there.  
"Ah, good morning Sonic!" Vector cried happily.  
Sonic gloomed down at the table, worried about what might've happened to Knuckles and Tails. He then looked at Espio, who had bandages wrapped around his stomach and back from the injury he received from Spike the previous day.  
"They'll be fine Sonic, if Dr. Eggman wanted to kill you, he wouldn't have strapped you all to tables," Espio said encouragingly.  
"Why didn't we save them?" Sonic asked.  
Vector sighed, "Sonic, if there was any way we could've, but the thing is" he started, but was interrupted.  
"Why didn't you let me save them!?" Sonic roared and stood up, slamming his fists against the table.  
Charmy gasped, "Look Sonic," Espio said, "We needed you, and we couldn't risk losing you, we've found out what Eggman is truly up to this time, and it's worse than ever before."  
Sonic glared at Espio, "Yeah, I know, he wants to use the Chaos Emeralds to fuel his new machine or whatever, great! Does he have them? Yeah, he's got four because you guys were too concerned about yourselves!" he bellowed furiously.  
Vector looked angry, "Listen here Sonic, hear us out!"  
"Shut up, I don't need this!" Sonic said rudely, and headed for the door. Just then, Espio appeared in front of him out of nowhere. He had turned invisible and rushed in front of the door.  
"You can't leave until you hear what we have to say," the pink chameleon said intently. His and Sonic's eyes focused on each other's for quite a while before Sonic took a deep breath and agreed.  
Vector smiled with satisfaction, and the monstrous green alligator took his seat again. Charmy finally started calming down, and Espio remained standing behind Sonic to prevent him from trying to make another rude escape.  
"Okay," Vector started, "it's like this…we know Eggman wants to regain his youth and acquire ultimate power, what else is new. But that's not what concerns us…"  
Sonic looked interested, "What is it?" he asked curiously.  
"The Chaotix Detective Agency has done a lot of work and research on this machine, and we've had our spies inside to take a look at the machine and send us pictures, they didn't return," Vector sighed.  
Espio continued for his boss, "What he's saying is that we know more about the machine than Eggman does. It could be a number of things, we think that in his state of arrogance, he overlooked the major detail."  
"What detail?" Sonic asked quickly.  
"Eggman's machine contains seven chambers. Each of those chambers is designed to absorb fuel from one of the seven Chaos Emeralds. What we've found out is that the reverse side of the machine contains and exhaust pipe that is connected to the back side of one of the main chambers," Vector said.  
"So, what does that mean?" Sonic asked yet again.  
"It means," Espio said frustrated, "that if he activates that machine, power of the Chaos Emeralds will go straight back out of the machine and underground where he's had hidden bombs for over ten years. When the energy leaks into the exhaust pipe, it will then travel through the pipe underground, and then trigger and explosion right beneath the lab. After that, it will cause a chain reaction that sets off yet another bomb, and another, and eventually the bombs will destroy everything on planet earth. There are fifty bombs in total, and each has the power of three atomic bombs. Eggman's technology is vastly superior to anybody else on Earth, but he's failed to recognize that one vital piece of information that will cause his destruction, and all of ours," he finished.  
Sonic gazed at the table, he had no idea that Eggman would make a mistake of this magnitude, "How do we stop him?" he asked.  
Charmy smiled, "How else? We barge in and kick his butt!" he cheered.  
Espio shook his head, "No, that's not how we'll be handling this mission. We must proceed with cautious actions."  
Sonic looked at Espio, "Wait, there was something else," he said in what sounded like a panicked voice.  
"Hmm? What is it?" Espio asked.  
"Yesterday when we were fighting, that orange and black ball came out of nowhere and hit Spike which saved our lives, and then vanished…what was it?" Sonic asked.  
Vector shrugged, "Your guess is as good as hours. It could've been a freak accident or something, or it could've been a lab experiment gone wrong."  
Sonic shook his head, "No, I saw the holes in the wall…it came from outside the lab…" he finished, and then it hit him.  
"Shadow!" Sonic shrieked.  
"Shadow the Hedgehog?" Espio said smugly, "Why would he concern himself with our matters."  
Vector grunted, "Espio, you may not see eye-to-eye with Shadow, but he's most certainly on our side. Don't discourage him from helping us!" he ordered.  
Espio spat in the sink across the room, "Yeah, whatever, just make sure you don't turn your back on him…"  
"He saved our lives!" Sonic snapped.  
Espio remained silent, and Charmy once again disappeared beneath the table.  
The four continued arguing about the matter of Shadow until there was a knock on the front door. They all stopped talking immediately, "No way, they couldn't of found us…" Espio panicked.  
Vector squinted his eyes, "Espio, turn invisible and go out the back. See who it is, if they're friendly, let 'em in…"  
"If not?" Espio asked.  
"Well then, we'll have to abandon our HQ, we don't have the numbers to fight them off by ourselves," Vector decided, and they set their plan into action.


	7. Chapter 6

-1**Chapter 6: Battle Plans**

As Espio ran through the backside of the HQ and around to the front door, Vector, Charmy, and Sonic eagerly awaited his return, and as they waited, their hearts jumped as they saw the doorknob move from the outside. Espio walked in, coupled with a white bat with black wings and two small fangs, Rouge the bat was in their presence.   
"You?" Sonic shrieked.  
Rouge smiled, "So, this is your army?" she asked Espio.  
"Most of it," the chameleon grunted back.  
Rouge laughed, "Well, Sonic the hedgehog, it's been a while, hasn't it? What, since the incident of A.R.K, right?" she asked cockily.  
Vector looked back to Sonic, awaiting some sarcastic remark, "Yes," was all Sonic said.  
"Huh? What's wrong with you? You're not in your normal free spirited mood now are you?" she asked.  
Sonic looked back up, "Knuckles and Tails were captured by Eggman…" he sighed gloomily.  
Espio sat on the countertop in the back of the room, while Charmy joined Vector at the long rectangular table.  
Rouge looked all around and caught Sonic's eyes quickly before turning away. There was an awkward silence in the room that lasted approximately two minutes before anybody spoke.  
"Rouge, what business do you have at the Chaotix Detective Agency's HQ?" Vector said, mostly just to break the silence.  
Rouge smiled, "I'm glad you ask," she said with a certain satisfaction, "I come bearing good news!"  
"What is it?" Charmy bolted.  
Espio sat upright, awaiting this news that could either make or break their mission, "The news is," Rouge started, "that Eggman's machine has a weakness."  
Vector's eyes flared up, "How do you know about Eggman's machines?" he demanded.  
"Simple," Rouge said, "I have spies working in Eggman's lab, much as you did Vector."  
Espio jumped to the floor, "What do you mean? What's this machine's weakness?"  
"Eggman's machine runs off of the power of the seven Chaos Emeralds, so obviously, he MUST have those emeralds before he activates it, am I right?"  
"Yes," Vector said suspiciously, "however, it doesn't really matter, he's got the emeralds that Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles all had, and nobody knows where the other three are…"  
"Exactly!" Rouge said, "If we can track them down and collect the remaining three emeralds, we can prevent Eggman from using that machine. He'll have to come to us for them, and we can destroy them so that he can't use his machine!"  
Espio fired up, "That's the most preposterous thing I've ever heard! You not only have any idea where these emeralds are, but you then want to destroy them! You're a fool!"  
"Espio, calm down!" Charmy said boldly.  
"It's worth a try! If Eggman gets his hands on those emeralds we're all screwed!" Rouge said angrily.  
Espio slammed his fist into the countertop that he had previously been sitting on, "This is a nothing more than a fool's quest, which I will take no part in…"  
"You haven't even heard the best part, my spies have reported the locations of the remaining three Chaos Emeralds," Rouge stated factually.  
"Why didn't you mention that before?" Espio roared with fury, his patience with Rouge running empty.  
"Because you're just so fun to anger!" Rouge pointed at Espio and laughed as hard as she could, trying to over dramatize the situation.  
"Where are they?" Charmy asked.  
Rouge became a whole new person, her look became serious, and her posture became much more professional, "They won't be easy to get, but we can at least try to get one, that way, Eggman's machine won't work properly. One of them is guarded by the legendary Babylon Rogues of Metal City," she began.  
"The others?" Vector asked, and looked over at Sonic who had remained in another world the entire conversation.  
"The second emerald is held by Shadow the hedgehog himself, my spies last saw him running through Westopolis, making way to Nie for reasons we have yet to understand. And the third," she began, "will be the most difficult of all. It seems that in a cave southwest of Westopolis, there was an excavation group trying to find a Chaos Emerald, and they did…however, the blasted it into the depth of the cave making it unreachable to most people. However, with just the five of us, we may be able to sneak into the cave and retrieve it," the female huntress finished.  
Vector stared coldly into Rogue's eyes, "You ask quite a bit of our efforts," he began, but was interrupted.  
"The world is at stake! Who cares about payment or debts!" Charmy blasted, "We have to do this Vector, and you know it!"  
Espio grinned, "Charmy, taking command of the situation, never thought I'd see the day."  
Vector smiled as well, "You're right Charmy, Sonic, you in?" he asked slowly.  
Sonic looked up with eyes of determination that nobody had ever seen on him before. He had both hands curled into fists and slowly stood up from his chair, and stared straight into Vector's eyes, "Let's roll!"


	8. Chapter 7

-1**Chapter 7: Shadows of War**

In the cold dark mountain ranges of Nie, one warrior stands alone. Standing tall and looking down upon the city of lawless hellions, this warrior swore to make them pay.  
He rushed down the mountainside and into the local city, where he found three thugs all aiming guns at one defenseless woman, "I'm gonna ask you one more time!" the one in the middle said, "Where's the ID?"  
The woman was crying hard, and shaking unbelievably, "I-I don't know, I swear I didn't take it!" she cried.  
"Ha, well that's just too bad!" the middle gunner said, cocking the pistol.  
"Drop your weapons, or I will fill your life with pain beyond imagine and darkness that will make you scream," the dark warrior who had traveled down from the mountain said.  
The three gunners turned around, "Who are you?" they demanded, now pointing the guns in his direction.  
The warrior's red eyes flared up, "I'm your worst nightmare," he said furiously, and before anybody knew it, the three gunners were on the ground…dead.  
"Who are you?" the helpless woman shrieked, "GET AWAY FROM ME!"  
The warrior faced the woman and stuck out a hand to help her up, "I'm not going to hurt you," he promised.  
The woman stood up and smacked the warrior with her purse and ran off, and the dark warrior stood in the rain…alone.  
He traveled through the cities of Nie, and everywhere he went, he saw pain, death, and suffering. It infuriated him to see people with guns shooting at children, women, and the defenseless.  
Just then a group of about ten gunman approached the dark warrior, "Hey punk, just got the news. It was said that a little midget man like you was pickin' on our boys!" the big and bulky one said.  
The warrior faced these thugs, ready to kill, "You associate yourselves with people like that?" he asked coolly.  
They all laughed, "Yeah, they were the best bandits in Nie!" he laughed, his flabby stomach bouncing up and down.  
"Ha," the warrior said quietly, "we'll see where that gets you in life…"  
Just as he said that, the leader shot the warrior, but as they looked down to see the body, it was gone.  
"Up here!" he cried, and leapt from atop a city skyscraper and crashed into the fat leader, dead.  
The nine others all started shooting, but as the smoke cleared they saw no bodies. One-by-one bodies started dropping to the ground, and with only two gunners left, the dark warriors slowly approached them, "You're next," he promised, and the two took off.  
The dark warrior sped after them and killed them both, sickened by their acts of hate and crime, "Next time," he said to the ten dead terrorists, "pick on somebody your own size…"  
The warrior slowly went under a bridge, where he saw graffiti and curse words written all over the bottom of the bridge, he sat down, breathing heavily from his travels, when all of a sudden he heard another scream. But this time, it was a group scream, and not a single person.  
The mysterious warrior took off yet again, this time he saw an entire village in Nie set on fire, with bullets and gunfire going off as far as the eye could see, "What is this place?" the warrior asked, and was then hit from behind and knocked unconscious.

Ten hours passed before the warrior awoke, and with the bright sun in the air, the city of Nie didn't seem nearly as threatening, but as he looked at the village he had seen just hours ago on fire, it was completely burned down, and there was no trace of life.  
He slowly got up and looked around, "These people," he said, "I've failed them…" he gritted his teeth, "I swore to her, I swore that the people of Earth would be protected, I made a promise to Maria!"


	9. Chapter 8

-1**Chapter 8: The Race Begins**

Back in Dr. Eggman's laboratory, twelve hours had passed since Sonic and his friends had escaped. He now had Tails and Knuckles pumped with sleeping gas to keep them out for several more hours. He then returned to his main office, where the Arcane Renegades stood in front of him.  
"You four have failed in your duties to capture Sonic the Hedgehog, and for that, your contract remains in tact. I want you to capture Sonic and bring him back to me, dead or alive!" the doctor said ferociously.  
"But what about the Chaos Emeralds?" Tick asked quickly.  
"Yes," Jade agreed, "we already got the ones from Sonic and his friends, finding them now would be a waste of everybody's time. We should focus on getting the last three emeralds so that you can fuel your machine."  
Dr. Eggman thought for a moment, "You're absolutely right, once I gain infinite power, I can take care of Sonic myself. Very well, I want you four to track down the last three emeralds and bring them to me!" he ordered.  
"One problem genius," Spike said coldly, "we don't know where they are."  
"Ha!" Eggman laughed, "That's your problem, not mine. However, I do know where one of them is, an old acquaintance of mine is holding one. Are you familiar with the territory of Babylon?" he asked.

Meanwhile, back at the Chaotix Detective Agency HQ, Sonic, Charmy, Rouge, Espio, and Vector were all ready to track down the Chaos Emeralds as well.  
"Now the question is," Vector started, "which one to start with?"  
"Shadow's nearly impossible to track," Espio stated, "finding his will be more difficult than you may think."  
"Indeed," Rouge agreed, "I think it would be easiest to travel to Babylon and get it from the Babylon Rogues."   
"You think they'll just hand over their emerald?" Espio asked quickly.  
"They will if I can beat 'em in a race!" Sonic said, partially laughing. It was the happiest he'd been since escaping from Eggman's laboratory.  
Charmy laughed, "And you've already shown you can do that!" he laughed.  
"He's been practicing," Espio said, once again being the pessimist.  
"How much?" Vector asked.  
Espio threw a local issue of Sports EX on the table, "Yesterday, he just won the Magnum EX World Cup, the most prestigious boarding tournament in the world. He's not the same immature and cocky teenager you raced with last year Sonic," the chameleon finished.  
Sonic grinned, "No problem, I can still handle him!" he assured, "I've been practicing some, but it still shouldn't be a problem," he said finishing with a wink.  
"Alright, we'd better get a move on then!" Charmy squeaked.  
Espio and Sonic nodded simultaneously, and the five warriors darted out of the HQ and headed off to Babylon.


	10. Chapter 9

-1**Chapter 9: Jet's Fall**

In Metal City, racing was a high-profitable cause that created tension between the higher and lower classes that lived there. Racers came from all over the world to compete against an elite group of racers known as the Babylon Rogues. Just two days ago, the Babylon Rogues won one of the most coveted prizes of all: the golden trophy of the Magnum EX World Cup, a trophy awarded only to the best racers in the world. Jet the Hawk was the leader of this group of rogues, and he put pride into his job.  
It was unusually hot in Metal City, and there were no cars to be found, Jet, and his two companions, Wave the Swallow and Storm the Albatross had received a letter from an anonymous source requesting a meeting. Jet decided to go, seeing as they had nothing better to do, but as he saw the usually filled with traffic streets of Metal City completely empty, he began to wonder about his decision.  
"I don't like this boss," Wave said, she was sweating at the forehead.  
"Me neither, why'd you agree to meet these guys?" Storm asked, the huge bird was sitting under a tree.  
Jet wiped sweat off his brow, "These guys said that they were willing to pay us if we agreed to see them, so why not? We're always looking for a way to get a little extra cash, and this will have to do!" he barked.  
Just then four silhouettes came walking towards the Babylon Rogues, and Jet stood up, ready to greet their guests.  
As they approached, Jet backed off, they were perhaps the most intimidating group of ruffians he'd ever seen.  
"You're Jet the Hawk?" the leader asked.  
Jet slowly nodded, gripping his Extreme Gear tightly in case they needed to escape.  
"Call me Spike, Jet…I was sent here by my superior. It seems you have something he wants."  
Jet squinted his eyes, "What's that? A race?" the green hawk asked.  
Spike forced a laugh, "No you incompetent, your Chaos Emerald!"  
Jet smiled, "Sorry to say, but you're not getting your hands on this baby, no way!" he assured.  
Spike smiled, "I'm sorry you feel that way, Tank…" he said, snapping his fingers.  
Tank slowly walked up, "Yes boss?" he asked.  
"Take 'em," Spike ordered.  
Tank smiled, "Gladly!" he said and walked fourth, just then Storm confronted the fully armored armadillo.  
Tank and Storm were almost the exact same size, yet with one swipe of his left arm, Storm went down and stayed down.  
"No way!" Wave shrieked.  
Jet gritted his teeth, "Who are you guys?" he demanded.  
"We're the Arcane Renegades of Nie," Spike responded.  
Jet's eyes popped wide open, "The renegades of legend? The group that's said to have murdered more people than any other group of thugs in the world? Those Arcane Renegades?" he panicked.  
Spike smiled, "I see our reputation had spread quite a ways from home, what do you say Jet? I don't want to have to cause you and your friends harm, just give me the emerald."  
Jet grinned, "No way, you may be good, but you've never seen the Babylon Rogues in action!" he shouted, and leapt onto his Extreme Gear and took flight, and Wave closely followed.  
"What about Storm?" she shouted, trying to get her voice through the intense turbulence that was running behind them.  
Jet looked over his shoulder, "He's of no use to them, we just need to lose them and we'll go back for him!"  
Back at the meeting place, Spike raised his black sunglasses, "Tank, Tick, get them!" he ordered, "And don't come back without that emerald!"  
Tank and his little brother Tick both rolled into ball forms and took off at incredible speeds. Jet and Wave were already a good distance away, but as they looked back and saw the two armadillo brothers on their tails, they panicked.  
"Now what?" Wave blared.  
Jet spun around, "I'll catch up, keep going!" he said, and charged his opponents.  
As Wave kept going, the two armadillos launched themselves off the ground and hit Jet. Tank hit Jet in the chest, which knocked him off his board, while Tick hit him in the head, which knocked the sense out of him.  
Jet lay on the ground, panting in pain. Tank and Tick unrolled themselves and approached Jet. Tank lifted Jet by the shoulder and punched him in the face so he skidded at least ten feet on the ground.  
The hawk got to his knees and spat blood on the ground, "You guys don't play games…" he said weakly.  
"Lemme handle this…" Tick said, and coiled up into ball form. His outer shell then started to glow red with an orange tint.  
"Let me explain," Tank said, "when my little bro goes into his ball form, he can raise his internal temperature up to 500 degrees," the monster laughed.  
Jet gasped, "That's right," Tank added, and picked the steaming ball up. His golden hand plates prevented him from taking any damage, he then threw the ball at approximately 200 miles per hour, and nailed Jet in the face, knocking him out, and sending him crashing into a nearby skyscraper.  
Tick unrolled once again, and took the red Chaos Emerald out of the pack Jet wore around his waste.  
"Let's roll," Tank said, and the two Arcane Renegades took off back to regroup.


	11. Chapter 10

-1**Chapter 10: Hidden Survivors**

Sonic, Vector, Espio, Charmy, and Rouge all arrived in Metal City, where they too noticed the lack of people and movement around them. They went to Jet's favorite race course, but when they saw he was missing, they decided to split up.  
"Espio, I want you to go with Charmy, and I'll go with Rouge," Vector ordered, "and Sonic, I think it'd be best if you looked over by the ramps again."  
Sonic nodded, and the three groups split up. Sonic looked all around, but couldn't find Jet anywhere. As he looked up, he saw a building with a big dent in it, "That's odd, wonder what happened here," he said curiously.  
Sonic looked behind one of the trees, and before he knew it, he hears somebody calling his name, "Sonic! Sonic over here!" it was loud and deep at the same time. Sonic spun around and saw a large albatross running towards him; it was Storm of the Babylon Rogues.  
"Storm, long time no see! Where's Jet?" Sonic asked politely.  
"That's what I've gotta show ya, it's horrible! Somebody almost killed him and took his Chaos Emerald!" Storm cried, and grabbed Sonic by the arm and ran behind the building with the large dent in it.  
When Sonic saw Jet, he couldn't believe it, he looked terrible, and he was moaning in pain. Wave stood by his side, "Thank god you found him!" she cried, trembling with fear for her boss.  
Jet's eyes were barely open, "Who's there?" he managed to spit out before coughing.  
Sonic rushed over, "Did the Arcane Renegades do this to him?" he demanded of Wave.  
She nodded, tears dripping down her eyes, "I shouldn't have left, he told me too, but he insisted on fighting them himself…" she cried.  
The albatross kneeled down, "It's okay boss, I found Sonic, he'll help you, won't ya?" he asked dumbly.  
Sonic frowned, "Yeah, we've gotta get you to my friend Charmy, he's got healing remedies that can help you Jet."  
Jet growled, "I don't want your stinking help fool! I want to kill them who made me look like a fool!" he spat, shoving Wave's hand away and attempting to sit up.  
"Be careful Jet!" Wave panicked.  
Jet's face was badly bruised, and it looked as if one of his arms was broken. His eyes were bloodshot, and he could see the blood stains where the blood had been spilled earlier on his beak.  
Sonic lifted his head up, "I'll be back, I'm going to get Charmy!" he said determined, and took off.

Meanwhile, Espio and Charmy were searching in a nearby tunnel close to where they started, "See him yet?" Charmy asked.  
"If I did, don't you think I would've mentioned it by now?" Espio spat.  
Charmy looked angry, "You don't have to be rude about it you know!" he argued.  
Espio grinned, "Here comes Sonic, maybe he's got something."  
Sonic rushed forward and stopped completely, "No time to talk, come on Charmy!" he said, and grabbed the bee by his foot and darted off again.  
"Wait for me!" Espio shouted, and tried to keep up.

Back where the Babylon Rogues were hiding, Jet's condition wasn't any better. Sonic stopped and took a deep breath, "Charmy, you've gotta heal Jet, he got beaten by the Arcane Renegades!"  
Charmy nodded, "I'll fix him up!" he promised.  
Wave and Storm looked thankful, "Now," Sonic said, "What EXACTLY happened?"  
"I'll tell you," Wave said, "it started when Jet got this strange letter from an anonymous source. They said they'd give Jet one thousand dollars if they met with him in a private place. Being the Babylon Rogues, we were desperate for some cash, so we agreed.  
"After that, we saw those monsters come, and the leader sent the biggest one of them all to take Storm down." She added.  
Storm was bruised as well on the face, he had obviously been beaten up earlier, "Continue please," Sonic requested.  
"Well," Wave continued, "after that, me and Jet took off, hoping to make a loop around the city, grab Storm, and go hide…but, they caught us, even on our extreme gear. The two armadillo brothers were faster than we were on our boards, and when Jet saw them, he told me to keep going while he took them on. But he didn't stand a chance. I went about another mile and stopped, and saw Jet lying on the ground, I came back and brought him over to the tree where we were supposed to meet those jerks in the first place, and Storm was there as well, and we brought Jet here and have been hiding ever since," she finally finished.  
"I see, well I promise that we will catch those maniacs and put an end to their evil ways," Sonic said with a look of determination.  
"Thank you," Wave said in a very grateful manner.  
"Yeah, without you, Jet might have d-di-died…" he said, now starting to cry as well.  
Sonic felt bad for them, after the incident on Babylon Garden, Sonic had considered Jet and his team friends, and it sickened him to no end to see his friends treated this way, "So they know where the Chaos Emeralds are then," he said.  
"It's understandable if they do, how else would they know to come here?" Wave asked.  
Sonic nodded, and Charmy then came fourth, "All finished!" he said gleefully.  
Jet the Hawk looked good as new. His bruises were healed, his bones were fixed, and his blood stains removed, "Thank you Sonic," he said softly.  
"Don't mention it Jet, anything for a friend," said Sonic.  
Charmy looked around, "Shouldn't we be getting back with the others? I mean, this is the whole point of coming to Metal City, right?" he asked them.  
"Yeah, let's go and tell Vector and Rouge what we found out," Sonic agreed, and Sonic, Charmy, Espio, Wave, Storm, and Jet all traveled together back to Vector and Rouge, where they told them the news.


	12. Chapter 11

-1**Chapter 11: Dark Warrior Revealed**

In the cold rain of Nie, the dark warrior stands alone. He stands upon the roof of a local farmhouse in one of the villages in Nie, watching as pain and suffering surrounds him.

Meanwhile, Sonic and the gang were all traveling at full speed to make sure they got the next Chaos Emerald, but where to start? Nobody had any idea where Shadow was, and the only other was in the deserted ring of caves known as the Mystic Cavern.  
At the border of Metal City, they stopped and thought for a moment: which would be the easier of the two to retrieve?  
"Well," Sonic said, "knowing Shadow, I'd have to say that he's somewhere alone, and somewhere deserted. Now that he's unlocked the memories to his past, I doubt he cares much about the emeralds. I know he keeps one to remind him of the work he put into getting them though."  
"This Shadow fellow, who is he?" Wave asked.  
Espio snapped the twig he'd been holding and playing with in his fingers at hearing Shadow's name.  
"Shadow is supposedly the ultimate life form created by Professor Gerald Robotnik," Sonic replied, "and his goal in life had always been to uncover the mysteries of his past. He did so about two years ago, and now wanders the world in search of new meaning."  
"You forgot to mention," Espio said, barging into the conversation, "that he's a greedy, self-centered and arrogant fool who thinks of nothing save his own gain."  
"Hold your tongue Espio!" Vector ordered, and he did as he was told.  
"Very well, but I will never forgive him. What he did to those GUN soldiers that day…it was unforgivable. When he fought you Sonic, and shot you from behind, I will never forget," Espio said quietly so only his companions could hear him. Although, it wasn't like there was anybody else around to hear anyways.

In Nie, screams were abundant, and as the dark warrior leapt from the rooftop, he ran towards the commotion, and watch as yet another village was torched, "Mutiny against their own kind, I will never understand the way of humans…and yet, I refuse to take part in any more of their trivial quarrels," he said.  
The warrior turned around and slowly walked back, when he heard a voice, "Home again, home again," it said.  
The warrior slid behind one of the local houses and peeked around the corner, there were four of them, and they were standing in a pack. The one who had spoken just a moment ago was the one in the back right corner, short, and appeared to have a shell on his back, "who are they?" the warrior wondered, jumping onto the roof of the building he was standing behind.  
He looked over the roof, and saw them slowly walk down the streets, "Them, again? How did they find me?" the dark and enigmatic warrior said, his voice shaking.  
"Are you sure he's here, Tank?" asked the leader of the pack.  
"Yeah Spike, I interrogated one of the nearby cities, and they said they'd seen a black hedgehog running through Nie," the bulky one said.  
The warrior leapt down and crept around the back corner, "They must have come for my Chaos Emerald," he said, now holding it in the palm of his hand.  
The four warriors walked as if a plague, they would be here one moment, and there another. The warrior tried to follow them without being caught, when he accidentally stepped on a stick and snapped it in half.  
"Hmm, we have company," the only female of the group said, her ears pointed straight up.  
The warrior cursed while looking down at the ground, and the four figures turned to face the warrior, "So, you're Shadow?" the leader asked.  
"And if I am?" the warrior asked.  
"Then you're one unlucky guy," the leader said once again.  
The warrior closed his eyes and grinned, his fangs now barely sticking out, "Yes, I'll admit, I am Shadow the Hedgehog, the Ultimate Life Form! And you, you who have opposed me will feel supreme pain!" he challenged.  
The leader laughed, and for what may have been the first time, laughed a real laugh, "I've heard so much about you, when our employer told us we'd be fighting a hedgehog. Oh how I hoped it'd be you, imagine my disappointment to find it was only the lesser version of you, that pathetic blue hedgehog…" he said sarcastically.  
"Sonic made it out of the doctor's laboratory alive then?" Shadow asked.  
"So," the leader said, "it was you, that day in the lab, the one that shot through the walls, it was you wasn't it?"   
Shadow stood his ground, "I'd been following Sonic and his friends that day, I too sensed trouble…but I didn't follow them in. I planned to take action only if the trouble seemed inevitable, which it did," he said smugly.  
"Allow me to introduce myself, I am Spike, and these are my Arcane Renegades. Tank, Tick, and Jade, and they will be the ones responsible for taking your life today Shadow…unless you hand over that emerald right now that is."  
Shadow bent his knees, "You want the emerald, come and take it!" he challenged yet again, and dashed forward so fast, nobody saw it coming. Spike had been hit in the stomach, and sent back flying so far that he crashed through three houses before he stopped.  
Tank growled, "Why you little cretin!" and threw a mighty punch at Shadow, which he easily ducked under.  
"You're big, and that's the only advantage you've got," Shadow smirked.  
"Stand down Tank," Spike ordered, limping back into the scene, "nobody makes a fool out of me, especially a clone of an already worthless being!"  
Shadow and Spike stared each other down, preparing for the ultimate clash in power where the winner would take all, and the loser would be left to take nothing…


	13. Chapter 12

-1**Chapter 12: Shadow vs. Spike**

The two warriors of darkness stared each other down, eyes red with fury and determination to have the killing blow against the other. Shadow dug his feet into the dirt, and smiled, "You will soon know the terror of true darkness!" he sneered, and dashed forward.  
"You need any help?" Tank asked.  
Spike threw his glasses to the side, "No, I want you three to continue through the city, make sure nobody enters this fight," he ordered, and got into a battle stance.  
As Shadow approached, Spike stuck his index finger on his right hand out and pointed it at his challenger, and fired at least three dozen microscopic spikes out.  
Shadow swiftly spun to his right and continued his assault, his fists started to glow with fire, and he punched Spike in the cheek, who slammed against a tree. Spike stood back up, and wiped the blood off of his lip, "You ignorant fool!" he said angrily.  
Shadow did a back flip and charged once again at Spike, who this time jumped into the air and did a forward flip over Shadow. He turned and stuck his arms straight out at 90 degree angles when compared to his body, "You will know the wrath of Spike!" he roared, and his tiny pores started to become increasingly visible.  
Shadow gasped, he'd seen this move before, it was the same technique that nearly killed Espio just days ago. Spike closed his eyes, and millions of tiny spikes that would easily kill Shadow darted in every angle of direction. People behind Spike were killed in the attack, and so were people inside of houses miles away. Windows shattered, and houses crumbled at these tiny needles.  
As the needles approached Shadow, he stuck his hands in front of him, and his entire body started glowing red, his eye pupils vanished, and they too, became pure red.  
"What's this?" Spike laughed as the needles approached his target.  
"CHAOS BLAST!" he screamed at the top of his lunges, and a huge barrier of fire surrounded his body, and slowly pushed out forward in all directions.  
The barrier was become very large, and Shadow was actually lifted off of his feet. As Spike's attack collided with Shadow's, his needles were instantly incinerated at contact.  
"Now, feel the full power of Chaos Blast!" Shadow yelled even more loudly than before, and the barrier of fire increased it's size at a rate so fast, nobody saw it coming. Spike was engulfed in flames, as well as several other innocent pedestrians and houses. Shadow felt sorry for the innocents, but he had to use Chaos Blast in order to win.  
As the fire shredded the city apart, Shadow saw Spike, struggling for life on the ground, screaming with pain and agony.  
Shadow approached Spike and looked down at the fool who had dared challenge the warrior of darkness, "Give it up," he offered.  
Spike growled and hissed at Shadow and stumbled to his feet, "You'll get no such satisfaction from me fool!" he spat, and swung a punch at Shadow, who easily sidestepped and dodged it.  
Shadow's fists once again glowed red, and he punched Spike into one of the houses that were already on fire.  
"Are your pathetic needles really all you have to defend yourself with?" Shadow taunted.  
Needles came out of all directions of the house, and it crumbled. Out of the rubble Spike limped out, "Take this!" he said desperately, and fired exactly ten needles at Shadow.  
Shadow stuck the palm of his hand out so it faced the needles, and a small fireball appeared in it. The fireball expanded size so it covered Shadow's entire body, and the needles failed once again.  
"You're not going to win with such futile efforts," Shadow promised the leader of the Arcane Renegades.  
Spike smiled, "I always knew it…I always knew you were better than Sonic, and this is why. You're the only one able to ever stand up to my powers, and I will now demonstrate my full strength!"  
Shadow's eyes widened as Spike curled into a ball just as Tank and Tick usually did. Spikes grew out of the coiled up ball in all directions, and the ball then dashed forward. Shadow narrowly managed to jump over the ball before it rolled under his feet.  
"He's fast," Shadow admitted.  
Spike turned around and fired six huge needles at Shadow, which he dashed aside to avoid.   
The porcupine then dashed forward again, and as he approached Shadow, he leapt into the air and unrolled from his ball. As he descended, he threw a left hook and knocked Shadow to the ground.  
The black hedgehog spat blood out to the side and jumped to his feet, but was then punched again, this time in the face. He stepped back, clutching his face, and Spike then opened his pores once again, preparing for a final attack.  
Shadow closed his eyes, and Spike laughed a horrid laugh that made people all around scream.  
"Chaos Blast won't save you hear, you're out of strength Shadow!" Spike laughed like a maniac.  
"Ha," Shadow laughed, "you think after two mere punches, I'm out of power? Fool!" he finished, and started glowing red yet again.  
"We'll soon see!" Spike screamed, and let loose his millions of needles.  
"Chaos Control!" Shadow blared, and dashed so fast that nobody could see him. He traveled five times faster than normal, and went through at least a thousand needles to reach Spike and punch him with a fiery fist.  
Spike went flying backwards into the dirt, and Shadow's speed decreased drastically as the needles sank into his skin. He fell back and breathed heavily, thousands of needles pointing out of him.  
There was no more life around the battlefield, houses crumbled, and trees were on fire. The two warriors were both down for the count, and no winner had been declared. Spike then slightly moved his arm and pushed himself to his knees, he looked to Shadow, who was inches from death. He wiped his cheek, and felt many bones broken in his body.  
Spike grabbed a flaming tree branch and quickly pulled himself to his feet and limped towards Shadow to observe his fallen foe. It was true, Shadow wasn't faking it, he was nearly dead.  
The bandit reached at Shadow and grabbed the Chaos Emerald he had been carrying, and started to make his way back to the rest of the group, when he heard a voice.  
"You…have n-not…won to-today…" a voice gasped, and sounded lifeless.  
Spike turned around and saw Shadow panting, he wasn't moving, but he was the one talking. Spike, having no energy to speak back, continued moving away, where he took one final look at Shadow before continuing his walk back to his group. 


	14. Chapter 13

-1**Chapter 13: A Fallen Friend**

As Spike regrouped with the Arcane Renegades, Tank, Jade, and Tick were all shocked to see him in such a state.  
"Spike, what happened to you?" Jade asked.  
Spike growled, "Never mind that, we've gotta go find that last Chaos Emerald, this one was quite tricky to take…"  
Tank wrapped Spike's arm around his neck to help him walk, and the bandits were on the move yet again.

About two hours later, Sonic and his friends arrived in Nie, where the villagers had reported seeing the Arcane Renegades.  
"You're sure they were here?" Vector asked.  
"Yeah," Sonic said, "the villagers said that they saw them come through that village over there, let's go!"  
They rushed through the villages until them came across a completely destroyed one, where they saw a single body laying in the middle of the streets…it was Shadow.  
"Oh my god," Rouge panicked.  
Sonic's eyes widened, he dashed over to Shadow and kneeled down beside him, "Shadow, can you hear me?" the blue hedgehog asked.  
Shadow's eyes slowly creaked open, "S-So-Sonic?" he asked, his vision was blurred from being asleep for so long.  
"What happened to you?" Sonic asked, starting to cry.  
Shadow forced a small grin, "I lost…" he managed to say, "he-he beat me and to-took the Chaos Em-emerald…" he said weakly.  
When the others caught up, Rouge asked, "What happened to him?"  
"It was the Arcane Renegades, they found Shadow and took his Chaos Emerald…" Sonic said quietly, seeing the life drain out of Shadow.  
"Let me help!" Charmy said, but Sonic stuck his hand out to stop him.  
"No Charmy, you can't do anything now…it's too late…" he said, and got up and walked off.  
Shadow's eyes closed yet again, and as Espio stared at the fallen warrior, he couldn't believe it, the mighty Shadow the Hedgehog…beaten? It didn't make sense, what exactly were they up against that could beat the warrior of darkness?  
"Wow, he's in worse shape than you Jet," Wave said.  
Jet kept a straight face as he looked down at Shadow, "Yeah, but I was lucky…"

Sonic stared into the night sky, it wasn't fair, one by one his friends were being taken from him and it was all the fault of these traveling renegades.  
"NO MORE!" Sonic screamed, and fell to his knees he was crying so hard.  
Rouge's mouth hung wide open, "I don't believe it…"  
"He's not dead yet," Charmy said, "I can still detect small pulses of life surging through his body every so often."  
"It won't last long," Espio said sadly, he was actually feeling sorry for Shadow.  
Espio, Vector, Charmy, Rouge, Jet, Wave, and Storm all stared down at Shadow and watched as he took his final breath, but then, he opened his mouth.  
"D-don't ki-kill…" he started.  
"What?" Vector asked shocked, "Don't kill what?"  
"Do-don't kill…Sp-Spike…"  
"Why not?" Espio demanded.  
Shadow's eyes closed, and his breaths stopped, it was over.

Shadow the Hedgehog, also known as the warrior of darkness, had been created for the purpose of evil. After defeating his programming, he managed to adopt a life of peace and swore to protect the people of Earth. He died in the services he swore to fulfill, and he wouldn't have had it any other way. 


	15. Chapter 14

-1**Chapter 14: The Final Chaos Emerald**

After about an hour, Sonic rejoined the group, "Hey guys," he said, still shaking.  
Everybody remained silent, except Jet, "Sonic, I swear to you, we'll find these guys and destroy them, for Shadow!" he assured.  
Sonic looked at Jet, "I appreciate it, but we can't," he argued.  
They all looked puzzled, "You're kidding, right?" Espio asked.  
Sonic shook his head, "No you guys, Shadow's final request was to not kill Spike, he must've had a reason, and we must respect his final wish. But the rest of them…are mine!"  
Vector laughed in a horrified sort of way, "Sonic, you can't be serious, Shadow would've liked more than anything to have his revenge on the Arcane Renegades, but let's face it…he can't."  
Charmy nodded, "Yeah Sonic, we have to beat them all or else they might get the last Chaos Emerald!" he squeaked.  
Storm walked forward, "If you want, I can beat them all up myself!" he said stupidly.  
Sonic started to smile, "That would be great Storm…" he said, not really meaning it.

Meanwhile, back at Eggman's laboratory, the Arcane Renegades had just arrived.  
The four warriors walked into Eggman's office and gave him the two Chaos Emeralds they found, "I'd like to say we have any idea where that last Chaos Emerald is…" Spike said, "but we don't have a clue."  
Eggman grunted, "Is that so? Well then, you'd better find out, and I know the perfect way!" he said proudly.  
"How's that?" Jade interrupted.  
Eggman paced back and fourth, scratching his mustache, and just as he was about to talk, he stopped dead in his tracks and looked at Spike, "What happened to you?"  
Spike's anger rose to unbelievable heights and he clenched his teeth, "He fought with Shadow the Hedgehog," Tick answered for his boss.  
"Ah, my grandfather's creation eh? And I take it you lost!" Eggman laughed hysterically.  
"NO!" roared Spike, "I won, and killed that pathetic fool just as he deserved!"  
"Well," Eggman laughed, "let's get back to business, shall we? Sonic and his friends are going to be determined to beat you four to the last Chaos Emerald, and with Rouge the Bat at their side, they're bound to know where it is. I would recommend following them, but don't let them know you're there, or they might get testy."  
"Like we honestly need to follow incompetent fools like that to get the job done," Spike said in disgust.  
Jade smacked Spike in the face, "Drop the ego Spike, you know as well as everybody else we have to rely on them for the last emerald, or else we don't get paid!"  
Spike was speechless, never before had he been attacked by one of his fellow teammates.  
"Maybe," Eggman started, "it's because you're scared of Sonic, is that it? Afraid you'll have another encounter like Shadow's, and you'll nearly die in the process…is that it Spike?"  
"How dare you!" Tank exploded, and stomped towards Eggman.  
"Tank, cease this foolishness at once," Spike ordered.  
Tank stopped quickly, with his fist raised in the air, and Spike made his way towards the door, where his teammates followed him.

About that same time, Sonic and his friends decided to take off to the final Chaos Emerald, and they knew their destination: the Mystic Caverns. 


	16. Chapter 15

-1**Chapter 15: Confrontation**

Three days passed, and Sonic and his friends traveled night and day to reach the dreaded Mystic Caverns where the final Chaos Emerald lay. As they approached the first island with the first cave on it, they all stopped and looked around.  
"I don't see Eggman's men anywhere," said Charmy.  
Vector and Rouge agreed, "It's strange," they said.  
Sonic started towards the first island, but as he did he stopped and looked around, just making sure that they weren't being set up for another trap.  
Rouge and Vector both stepped in front of Sonic, when just then a net came out of the sand and captured Rouge in it. The net was then dragged up into the air, and a helicopter was revealed, "You can thank Eggman for lending us this Sonic!" Spike yelled from the chopper.  
"Rouge!" Vector roared.  
Spike, Tank, and Jade all jumped out of the chopper and with Tick still inside, flew off with Rouge a prisoner.  
"Give her back now!" Espio demanded.  
Vector cracked his knuckles, "It's show time!" he laughed, and darted forward.  
Spike lifted his index finger and pointed it at Vector, and his finger started to glow purple, he then shot one needle, no more, but this one was different…somehow, it seemed bigger than the normal needles he shot out. It hit Vector directly in the forehead, and for a moment, he didn't know what happened.  
"Ha, is that supposed to hurt?" Vector laughed, but Spike merely smiled, rubbing the tip of his finger with his opposite hand.  
Tank and Jade grinned, they knew what was about to happen, but Spike explained it for the rest of them, "That was my Toxic Dart, a deadly poison that will decay the body from the inside out within a minute," he sneered.  
Vector's eyes popped open, "Charmy! HELP!" he screamed with fear.  
Charmy rushed forward, but just then Jade teleported in front of him, "I don't think so," she said, and blasted Charmy with one of her wrist lasers.  
Vector was now on his knees in pain, but before he gave up, he punched Jade in the back of the head and knocked her out cold.  
Jet pulled out his Extreme Gear, and took off at full speed. He grabbed Charmy, and rushed his to Vector where he dropped him. Then, he sped towards Spike and did a tail whip that knocked him over.  
"Be careful Jet!" Wave cried, but just the Storm took out his Extreme Gear and followed, and Wave did as well.  
Charmy slowly opened his eyes, and looked at Vector, on the ground in pain, "VECTOR!" he panicked, and started to try and heal him, but he had a feeling it wouldn't do any good.  
"Tank, crush that noisy fool!" Spike ordered, slowly getting to his feet.  
Tank pulled back and threw a punch at Jet, who jumped off his board and landed behind Tank, who's punch hit the board and broke it in half.  
Just then Storm came tearing through and gave Tank an uppercut to the chin, and knocked him so hard that he did a full backwards summersault before landing on his stomach.  
Spike stumbled to his feet and lifted his index finger once again, but his wrist was then grabbed by Jet, "Now!" the hawk yelled.  
Wave came up now at full speed, and jumped off her board right before it hit Spike and knocked him into the water.  
Sonic was thunderstruck, he had completely allowed Vector to get hit by a poison dart, and allowed Rouge to be kidnapped by the very people he swore just days ago to defeat.  
Espio looked to his side, and decided that Sonic wouldn't be jumping into action any time soon, so he did instead. Although, the Arcane Renegades looked like they were in pretty bad shape.  
Tank got to his feet, and while Storm wasn't looking punched him so that he went flying across the sandy beach and into a palm tree.  
He then spread his fingers out yet again, and the steel nails came slithering back out of his fingertips.  
Espio reappeared visible right in front of Tank, and punched him right in the face, but it had no effect. Tank pulled back and slashed Espio across the face, and knocked him down too.  
Jet ran forward and came to a stop in front of Tank, and spread his arms apart, "Take this!" he cried, and a huge windy tornado surrounded just Tank, and threw him into the air. As the tornado faded, Tank crashed into the ground, but in his ball form.  
Tank sped forward and nailed Jet so that he too went soaring into the ocean. Wave took several steps back, but once the ball came speeding towards her, she knew it was too late, and got nailed by the monstrous titan.  
Spike slowly limped out of the ocean, and wiped his brow, "These freaks are really starting to tick me off!" he said, and just then, Sonic fell face first onto the sand.  
Jade had blasted him with her wrist laser, she had just regained her footing and blasted him in the back.  
Charmy was working as fast as he could with his special powers to remove the poison, but he couldn't do it fast enough before the Arcane Renegades surrounded him completely.  
"Goodbye, bumble freak," Jade hissed, and charged her wrist laser.  
Four ninja stars came out of nowhere and hit Tank in the back, but they didn't have any effect, like his punches, they were worthless against the armored mutant.  
As Tank approached Espio and Jade prepared to kill Charmy, Sonic was given inspiration by his fallen friends, and he wanted to help. But how? His body was far too weak to move.  
As hard as he tried, Sonic couldn't get off his knees, but as he saw Jade release the laser and hit Charmy, he knew enough was enough.  
Sonic watched as Charmy's once supersonic wings had come to a complete stop, and his small yellow body fell from the air to the ground, his eyes closed forever.  
Sonic dashed forward and hit Jade so hard with a Homing Attack, that she completely blacked out and most likely dead.  
"No!" Spike cried, "Jade!"  
Sonic growled as he approached Spike, ready to kill yet again…


	17. Chapter 16

-1**Chapter 16: Sonic's Revenge**

Sonic slowly approached Spike, "A life for a life, except you've taken far too many lives from me lately you fiend!" he said in such a horrid voice, that even Spike was frightened by it.

Over at the shore, Espio was getting knocked around by Tank, when Tank saw Jade's body lying on the ground, motionless, "No way, it can't be!" he screamed, and showed emotion for the first time. The titan ran over to Jade's body and listened at her chest for a heartbeat, then checked her wrists for pulse, but it wasn't of any use, "NOOOOO!!!!!"

Sonic leapt into the air and used a Homing Attack on Spike and knocked him to his back. Spike then aimed his index finger and fired a toxic dart at Sonic to try and kill him, but Sonic easily dodged the needle.  
As Spike got to his feet, his pores started opening, and Sonic knew what that meant. Tank spotted it as well, and curled into a ball, while everybody else remained completely vulnerable to Spike's upcoming attack.  
"It's no use Sonic…I may have underestimated you…but it's over now!" Spike howled with sand in his face.  
Sonic didn't show any emotions whatsoever, he remained cool and collected and marched down the path to his prey as if he were a hunter. When he came to a complete stop, it puzzled Spike.  
"Sonic Wind!" Sonic cried, and his blue solid body was transformed into blue rays of light and swirled all around Spike and sent him flying up into the air. A blue energy ball then appeared in the heart of the tornado, and went up and blasted Spike into even higher altitudes.  
As he came crashing down, Spike spat blood onto the dirty sand, and Sonic appeared before him. Tank unrolled himself, and looked terrified as he saw his leader laying inches from death.  
"Where is Rouge?" Sonic demanded of the helpless warrior.  
Spike managed only to cough sand out of his mouth, nothing more. Sonic grabbed Spike by the collar and threw him back down, "WHERE ARE THEY?!?" he demanded furiously.  
Tank started laughing, "Your friends are as good as dead…" he said happily, "and the Arcane Renegades are not yet defeated!"  
Tank rolled into a ball and launched himself at Sonic, but hearing Tank's words infuriated Sonic to even further heights, Sonic then launched a Homing Attack of his own and the two warriors collided, and Sonic pushed Tank into the ocean.  
Sonic watched as Tank fell into the water, where he could only assume that in his ball form, his density would be much greater…thus, he would sink like a rock.  
As Sonic turned around, he saw that Spike had vanished, "But how?" Sonic asked himself, "he was nearly dead!"  
He looked all around, and observed the status of each of his comrades. Jet, Storm, and Wave had regrouped and were all at least talking to each other, Sonic knew they'd be alright. He then turned his attention to Espio, besides a few bruises and scratches, he was fine. Then came Vector, who was breathing. Sonic came over and asked how he was doing, and Vector explained that he thought Charmy had taken enough poison out of him that he would live.  
Finally, Sonic looked at Charmy, who had stopped breathing completely, Sonic's eyes filled with tears and he dropped down to the ground before Charmy, "We'll never forget you…I SWEAR IT!"

That evening, they buried Charmy beneath the sand, giving him a proper burial, and each one of them swearing that his loss would not go in vain. 


	18. Chapter 17

-1**Chapter 17: Into the Caverns**

The next morning, Sonic, Espio, Vector, Jet, Wave, and Storm all headed into the first cave right in front of the battle that had taken place the day before. With silence throughout the group, they all six headed in.

"WHAT?!?" Tick screeched, tears streaming from his eyes.  
"I'm afraid it's true," the sinister Dr. Eggman replied, "your brother was killed yesterday after you took off in the helicopter…"  
"YOU LIAR!" Tick roared, and jumped on top of Eggman's desk, who smiled at the young armadillo.  
"Face it young one, your group of bandits wasn't good enough to stand up to the task I presented them with, although I still may be willing to pay you if you find the last Chaos Emerald…"  
Tick shot a dirty look at Eggman, "I'll find that emerald…" he swore, "but not for you. Tank lost his life trying to get it, I'm keeping it when I find it!"  
Eggman laughed, "Very well, we'll see how far you get without your pathetic group of bandits, or my protection…"  
Tick started shaking with fury, "One more question…who was it that killed my brother? Which one of them?"  
"It was Sonic the Hedgehog himself, the very being I ordered the Arcane Renegades to kill…and they failed," Eggman replied.  
"Sonic the Hedgehog, I will find him, and bring his head to you…" Tick said softly, and stormed the room at once.  
After laughing to himself, Eggman paced back and fourth thinking about what would happen if he couldn't get the last Chaos Emerald, "Doctor," said a deep and dark voice.  
Eggman spun around and looked at the door behind his office chair, it was a room where only he and his elites were allowed to enter. A pure white wolf came walking slowly into the room. His eyes glowed red, and he had razor sharp claws, with ears that pointed straight up. His tail just barely reached the floor, and it's color matched the rest of his body's color.  
"Lunar, how did it go?" Dr. Eggman asked curiously.  
"We were able to extract the information you wanted, of course…" the wolf named Lunar answered.  
Just then another warrior walked in, this one was almost the exact opposite of Lunar. He was a condor, and was pitch-black with a feathery body and green tinted eyes. He had no tail or ears, but he had feathers on his hands, which obviously aided his flying. The only thing he wore were specially designed boots that allowed him to fly with the greatest of ease.  
"Zephyr, I heard the good news just seconds ago," Dr. Eggman smiled.  
Zephyr grunted, "The bat girl spilled her guts with one drop of your latest Truth Serum, and we know have all we need to get started. It also appears there was a problem with your machine."  
"What do you mean Zephyr?" Eggman shrieked.  
"Allow me," Lunar interrupted, "she said that there was a problem, but we fixed it already. There was an exhaust pipe connected to the main chamber where the Chaos Emeralds would've been, and the result when activated would've caused a chain reaction, destroying the world's population, including you."  
Eggman pulled his glasses up, "A mistake of that magnitude slipped passed the Research and Development Team?" he asked, "well then, kill them!" he ordered.

"Anybody got a candle?" Vector asked his team, not able to see a thing.  
Just then they walked out of the room to a nicely lit room with a huge waterfall in it. They were standing on the ledge on the top of the room, right next to the blaring waterfall.  
"What now?" Storm asked loudly.  
Sonic leapt to the edge of the cliff, and dove off, and did a perfect dive into the water.  
"Like I'd honestly swim," Jet laughed, and crossed his arms. He then immediately spread his arms wide apart and dove down to the ground below, creating a gentle gust to soften his landing. Storm and Wave did the same.  
Espio grabbed Vector, and he leapt from cliff to cliff until they reached the bottom. They all six then pressed on, but as they started walking, a huge boulder crashed through the exit, blocking off any hope of escape. A loud roar then signaled, and as the heroes turned around to see what made the noise, they couldn't believe what they saw.


	19. Chapter 18

-1**Chapter 18: Hidden Terrors**

As the heroes faced the monster that had made the noise, their eyes widened with horror. An enormous bird-like creature was perched upon a ledge, and was staring at each one of them. It looked like a prehistoric pterodactyl, with yellow eyes and silver scales on his skin. His claws were stained red, most likely with the blood of its prey. It had long arms that extended out of the side of his torso, and wings that expanded at least seven feet to each side. It had a long nose with yellow fangs expanding from the top lip down past the bottom jaw.  
"This is…impossible!" Wave screeched.  
Vector cracked his knuckles, "You need to get out of here Sonic, find a way to move the boulder, and I'll distract the bird!"  
Espio rushed forward, "You'll do no such thing, we can't afford to lose anybody else Vector!" he argued, but it was no use. Vector's mind was made up, and he wasn't going to change it.  
Vector glared down at Espio, "I will not let you all endanger yourselves, move!" he roared.  
"CHARMY GAVE HIS LIFE FOR YOU!" Espio bellowed back, now in Vector's face, "and sacrificing your life is a pretty cruddy way to repay him!"  
Vector backed off, Espio had made an inevitable point, Charmy was dead because he was sacrificed his life for Vector…  
Vector nodded, "Fine, we'll take this thing together," he agreed, and just then the enormous bird took flight.  
"Is that-?" Jet started, and Wave nodded.  
Sonic spun around, "What's the matter with you two?" he demanded, and as he looked at Storm, he too was frightened.  
"This is no ordinary bird," Jet explained, "this is the bird of legend…this is the almighty Regal!"  
"Regal? Never heard of him, we'll talk later, but now we fight!" Sonic assured.  
"NO!" Jet argued, "Regal is famous for destroying countries by himself! He was captured one day and brought into this cave where he waits for prey, I was just praying we didn't encounter him…" he said weakly.  
Regal soared forward and stuck his talons on his feet out. Espio shot three ninja stars that hit him in the chest, but had no affect. Espio then jumped forward and turned invisible, he grabbed Regal's neck and rode him for a while before getting flung against the wall.  
Sonic used a Homing Attack on Regal, but with one mighty flap of his wings, Sonic too went flying backwards against the enormous boulder. Regal dashed forward and grabbed Storm with the talons on his legs, and sunk them into Storm's skin.  
"HELP!" Storm screamed in pain.  
Regal flew upward and kept a tight hold on Storm, and flung him into the waterfall, where nobody could see what happened to him. Jet and Wave ran forward, "Try to move the boulder!" Jet yelled still running.  
Vector turned around and started pushing the giant rock, and after a few seconds, managed to budge it a few inches.  
"Ready Wave?" Jet asked.  
"Always," Wave said determined to end this bird's life.  
They aimed their left palms at Regal as he came forward, and had their right hands at their sides. Two small energy balls appeared in their palms, and then merged with each other. A huge whirlwind then picked up and sent Regal smashing into a wall.  
Sonic stumbled to his feet and looked over to see Vector pushing the rock, he then saw Regal get back up and fly forward, passed Jet and Wave, and grab Vector by his legs. The bird then threw him against a wall, and then flew back over to grab the enormous boulder.  
After Regal grabbed the boulder, he started making his way towards Vector once again, "LOOK OUT!" Sonic screeched, going as fast as he could.  
Regal was just too fast, and as he released the boulder, Vector had no escape from the rock as it crashed through the wall behind Vector and brought the green alligator with it.  
Sonic leapt into the air and used a Homing Attack which hit Regal in the head and knocked him sideways.  
Jet created a tornado and threw Regal into the water, where he was then carried off by the current of water.  
Jet, Wave and Sonic all exchanged looks and went through the hole in the wall, the boulder was lying on the ground where Vector should've been, but as they looked aside, they saw him sprawled on the ground next to the rock. Sonic grabbed Vector and lifted his head, which was badly bleeding.  
Jet walked out of the room and found Espio slowly getting to his feet, "Wh-where is…V-Vector?" he asked weakly.  
Jet grabbed Espio before he fell over, "He's in the next room," Jet answered, and the two walked back together.  
Vector slowly opened his eyes, and smiled as he saw Sonic, "Sorry I couldn't move the boulder in time," he said quietly and smugly.  
Sonic laughed, and helped him to his feet, "Do we have everybody?" Sonic asked Wave.  
She shook her head, "Storm was thrown into the waterfall, we have no idea if he survived…" she said gloomily, and Jet then started trembling.

After about an hour of rest, there was still no sign of Storm, so they decided to continue moving. Vector had three broken bones, and Espio had two broken bones, but they continued moving nonetheless.


	20. Chapter 19

-1**Chapter 19: Fight for the Emerald**

As Sonic, Espio, Vector, Jet, and Wave trudged through the caverns, they saw lots of water, but no Storm. When they finally reached the heart of the caverns, they finally saw what had searched for nearly an entire day for: the last Chaos Emerald.  
Sonic reached for the emerald when he was then hit by something from behind. A needle with purple fluids dripping down, and Sonic immediately fell to his side.  
For the other four, it seemed in slow-motion, the needle had come from behind them, and at an upper again. They all spun around and looked up to see a black and white porcupine holding his index finger out. They all recognized him immediately as Spike, the leader of the Arcane Renegades. He leapt down from the ledge with a smug look on his face. He was bleeding from the previous battle, and his glasses were still missing. Also, the shoulder plates he wore were both cracked and muddy, and he looked like a mess.  
Jet ran to Sonic's aid, and lifted his head up, "No, Sonic you can't die! Wake up!" he screamed, slapping Sonic softly in the face.  
Sonic's eyes started to roll into the back of his head, and soon enough they were closed, "No…no this can't be!" Jet panicked, and fell backwards.  
"Move away from the Chaos Emerald, or you will all die," Spike threatened, and started making his way forward.  
Vector stood in his path, "Espio, grab the Chaos Emerald, Wave, grab Sonic and Jet, and get out of here!" he ordered, and the two followed his directions.  
Spike smiled and pores all over his body slowly started opening up, and Vector prepared to accept his fate, "HURRY UP!" the alligator screamed at Espio and Wave, who had just gotten out of the room.  
Wave, Jet, and Espio all hurried out of the room and set Sonic and the Chaos Emerald down and pushed their backs against the wall. They looked to the left, where they had exited, and saw millions of needles fly out of the opening, and they knew Vector had fallen.  
After the needles stopped, footsteps were heard. Spike soon made his appearance to the remaining heroes, and he grinned, just then a loud shrieking roar was heard, and the mighty bird Regal came soaring in from a higher entrance.  
Spike didn't give it much thought, but as the heroes looked at the bird, they saw Storm riding his back, and as he gave Regal a few tugging and pulling motions, he drove the mighty bird right to Spike.  
Storm jumped off the bird just before it grabbed Spike and clenched him tightly in his grips, and flew off with him.  
Jet, Espio, and Wave all gave a sigh of relief, and after, they all rushed to thank Storm for saving their lives.

They all turned to Sonic, it had been about forty seconds since he'd been hit with the toxic dart, and he was just about to die.  
"Wait!" Espio said quickly, "there's rumored to be a hidden spring in the Mystic Caverns that purges the body from evil spirits and poisons, which is how it got its name!"  
"Where is it? If we don't find it within the next twenty seconds Sonic's going to die!" Jet shrieked.  
Espio looked at the body of water in front of them, "Looks like we only have one choice…and chance…" he said, and chucked Sonic's body into the water. After about ten seconds, the water glowed white, and Sonic's body raised from the water with a white barrier surrounding it.  
Sonic was placed gently on the ground before them, and the barrier then disappeared.  
"S-Sonic?" Jet asked.  
Sonic's eyes shot open, and he smiled, "Thanks a lot guys," he said, and they knew he was going to be okay, "Storm? Is that you?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.  
"YEAH!" Storm bellowed, and gave Sonic an enormous hug.  
After Storm placed Sonic back on the ground, Sonic looked at Espio, "Where's Vector?" he asked slowly.  
Espio shook his head, "Come on," Sonic said to the Babylon Rogues, and they let Espio enter the room where Vector had died alone.


	21. Chapter 20

-1**Chapter 20: An Unexpected Challenger**

The next day, Espio burned Vector's body to honor his sacrifice. Without him, nobody would have survived that night. After they left the Mystic Caverns, they started making their way back to Westopolis when a helicopter flew down and a figure jumped out.  
"It's time!" the fighter said, in the shape of Tick of the Arcane Renegades.  
Sonic clenched his fists, "You're one of them aren't you!?!"  
Tick grinned, "Yeah, and you killed my brother! I'll never forgive you for that! NOW PREPARE TO DIE!"   
Espio came forward, "You're not fighting for Eggman, are you? You're fighting for your brother's death, and for that, we have no reason to oppose you. Your brother died following orders, don't die the same way," he tried to reason.  
"What do you mean?" Tick asked, getting into a fighting stance.  
"Your brother died because he was trying to obey the orders of his superiors, you have no superiors, don't fight us because they said so…fight us because you want too," Espio continued to explain, and Tick got out of his fighting stance.  
Sonic looked at Espio, "What are you doing? He's the enemy!" he said, approaching Espio angrily.  
Espio calmly looked at Sonic, "Look," he said, "your quarrel isn't with him…he never killed anybody, he was being controlled by a friend and his brother. He had no say in the matter, he's too young to be completely consumed by evil."  
Sonic stopped in his tracks and sighed, "I guess you're right," he agreed, "Your name is Tick, isn't it?" Sonic asked.  
Tick slowly nodded, "I'm not going to deny it," Sonic started back up again, "I killed your brother…but it was in a state of rage and hatred that I never should've had. I apologize for your loss, but we've had losses of ourselves, and that's what comes of war."  
Tick started to sniff, and rubbed his eyes, "Why'd he have to die? I loved him, he was my brother! I have nobody now, what am I supposed to do?" he asked, now crying.  
Wave comforted him, "You can travel with us, and help us stop Dr. Eggman!" she said, looking for support from the others, which she got none.  
"Fine," Sonic finally said.

Back at Dr. Eggman's laboratory, Eggman along with his two top warriors: Lunar and Zephyr were personally overseeing the development of the updated version of Eggman's machine. Now called the Rejuvenation Chamber version 2.0, this would put Eggman in top physical form, as well as mental form, and return him to his youth.  
"How long until the development phase it complete doctor?" Lunar asked.  
"Let's see…" Eggman thought for a while, doing the math in his head, "I would say about two more days should do it with this new development team, and when it is I will be unstoppable!" he laughed.  
Lunar smiled, his tail wagging back and fourth, "Now, I have a job for you, Zephyr," Dr. Eggman said, and Zephyr immediately gave Eggman his attention, "I've gotten reports that Tick has betrayed our causes, and now travels with Sonic and his friends, who have also escaped from the Mystic Caverns alive with the final Chaos Emerald. I want you to stop them and bring me the emerald."  
"An entire group of bandits wasn't enough to bring them down, what makes you think Zephyr can do it alone?" Lunar growled.  
"Because," Eggman started, "You two are the finest warriors alive, finding you was perhaps the single greatest achievement in my life, just then, the doors opened and a familiar face walked in.  
"Spike? You're alive? But how?" Eggman asked in an amazed voice.  
Spike was bleeding all over his body, and it appeared that every bone in his body was broken, he collapsed as he entered the room, "P-please E-Eggman, give me one-one more chance…" the porcupine pleaded.  
Lunar and Zephyr looked disgusted at the failure, "Well," Dr. Eggman thought, "I guess I could put you at my first line of defenses."  
"What do you mean?" Lunar asked.  
"You mean you don't get it Lunar? Well, let me explain," Dr. Eggman said, "At the front of the laboratory, Spike will greet Sonic and his friends at put them in their place once and for all in order to finally complete his contract," he said as Spike lay sprawled out on the floor.  
"You're going to allow that fool to fight in your lab?" Zephyr asked, the first words he'd spoken in a while.  
"Not in my lab, right outside it," Eggman explained, "and I have something special planned for Spike's new training program as well!" he laughed.

Meanwhile, Sonic and his friends were traveling as fast as they could to Eggman's laboratory to finally put an end to this feud once and for all. 


	22. Chapter 21

-1**Chapter 21: The Never ending Struggle**

As the helicopter that was taking Sonic, Jet, Wave, Storm, Espio, and Tick to Eggman's laboratory continued its path, everything seemed to be going fine. However, the copter soon started picking up turbulence.  
"What? Turbulence here, that's impossible! We're only 100 feet in the air!" Tick panicked.  
"That's strange," Jet said, his opinion being valuable, as he was known as the Legendary Wind Master, "turbulence here? Not only are there no other flying machines around, but the weather conditions are completely normal," he explained, and just then, the copter's blades became completely separated from the cockpit, and the helicopter came crashing down into the ground.  
As the heroes escaped the copter, it exploded. Luckily, nobody was injured, but as they looked around to see why the copter had come apart.  
"I'm stumped," Jet admitted, "there's no more wind, and even the wind turbulence we rode in couldn't have pulled the copter apart!"   
Just then slowly, a black bird with pale green eyes hovered down and touched the ground, "You're Sonic the Hedgehog?" he asked.  
Sonic stood face-to-face with the bird, "Yes," he said honestly, "and I don't care who sent you, you'd better get out of the way right now…or you're going to die," he said with an evil and sinister grin.  
The bird remained emotionless, "You can call me Zephyr," he said, "I'm one of Dr. Eggman's two top warriors and he's sent me to take care of you once and for all." The bird said coolly.  
Sonic wiped his chin, "Oh really? Well then, I guess you should follow his orders. However, I'm really impatient right now, and testing me isn't a good idea," he said sarcastically. The rest of the heroes were shocked to see how Sonic was talking to the villain.  
Zephyr's boots slowly activated, and he hovered a few inches above the ground, and then, with the blink of an eye, Sonic was sent flying backwards by a mighty gust of wind.  
"How did he do that?" Jet asked wildly, "I don't even have that kind of power!"  
"Whoever he is, he's good," Wave agreed.  
Sonic quickly leapt to his feet and used a Homing Attack on Zephyr, who easily flew aside and used his heavy boot to kick Sonic into another palm tree.  
"This is all there is to the famous Sonic the Hedgehog? I must say…I'm disappointed. I traveled all this way to see the one who had been giving the good doctor troubles for years, and I find this worthless garbage…" Zephyr said, his eyes still glowing green so you couldn't see the pupil.  
"That's it!" Jet roared, and tried to create a draft to sweep the condor away, but it was of no use, and it only made Zephyr angry.  
"You insolent fool!" Zephyr bellowed, and flapped his arms together so that that Jet smacked into Storm, who then smacked into a tree.  
Sonic rolled out of the dust again and threw a punch at Zephyr, who once again easily dodged, and kicked Sonic hundreds of feet into the air. Zephyr followed the hedgehog and kicked him even higher. Zephyr then set his boots to maximum velocity, and flew above Sonic. He aimed his palms at Sonic and created another gust, with winds of about 200 miles per hour, and Sonic went slamming back into the ground, definitely unconscious.  
Espio was invisible, and as Zephyr gently touched the sandy surface of the earth, he reappeared in front of him and threw a punch, which missed.  
"How did I miss you?" Espio panicked.  
Zephyr cracked a smile, "Simple," he explained, "I can sense the wind currents in the air, and I could feel the breath you blew out in order to breathe back in, and I could also feel the wind you pushed when you raised your fist," the mighty condor explained, he was definitely stronger than any of the warriors on the Arcane Renegades.  
All of a sudden a small brown ball came out of nowhere and nailed Zephyr right in the side of the head so that he went down to the ground, and when it unrolled, Tick showed himself.  
Jet then created a tornado and shot Zephyr up into the air, and Espio then threw five ninja stars that all got stuck inside of Zephyr's chest.  
As the condor slammed back onto the ground, he growled and pulled the ninja stars out of his skin, bleeding where they had hit. He slowly got up and bent his knees. He stuck his arms far apart and grinned, winds then started going crazy, and it also started to pour, "I can control the weather, now feel my wrath!" the crazed henchmen said, and a bolt of lightning came crashing down upon Jet, who blacked out.  
Storm glared with rage as he saw Jet get blown away in the wind, "Grab Jet!" he called through the storm to Wave, and then looked forward to Zephyr.  
The albatross then leapt into the air and used the currents to fly to Zephyr, where he let loose a mighty punch that sent Zephyr flying into a large pit. As the weather calmed, Storm pulled a palm tree out of the sand and then lifted it with one hand. He then raised it above his head and slammed the wooden weapon down on Zephyr, and broke his neck, killing him. 


	23. Chapter 22

-1**Chapter 22: Spike Reborn**

"This can't be! Zephyr has…fallen?" Dr. Eggman shrieked as he heard the news from one of his underpaid scientists.  
"Y-yes Doctor, one of our spies came in and told us that he had been killed by Sonic's group in battle," the scientist hesitated.  
Lunar stood to his feet, "Zephyr takes things too lightly. Sure, he may put on a strong front, but his actions don't nearly speak well enough for his actual abilities," the snowy wolf said in a deep and intimidating voice.  
Eggman grinned, "Although Zephyr was good, you Lunar, are my best. I never told him because I didn't want him to feud, but you have always had many more talents that him," he complimented.  
"Thank you Dr. Eggman," Lunar growled, but in a thankful voice.  
"Now then, I refuse to send any more units outward to retrieve the Chaos Emerald. We shall remain in the lab and wait for Sonic to arrive here, then it will be on our turf, and we will have a much easier time taking it from him," Eggman said coldly.  
"I will remain in the back with you Dr. Eggman," Lunar said quietly, but still everybody else in the room could hear, "I will stand by your side as ultimate power becomes yours. Nothing will interfere…"  
Eggman nodded, "Yes, especially with the enhancements made to Spike's physical being. Speaking of which, where is our egotistical friend?" he demanded of the scientist.  
One of the other scientists behind the head one snapped, and the doors swung open, and Spike walked in.  
Clean of any bruises or blood, Spike had had some of his organic body parts replaced with cybernetic supports, especially in areas weakened by his encounters.  
Spike's right arm was completely chrome, and his fingertips were much, much sharper. His left eye had been replaced by a mechanical scanner, with which Spike would be able to detect life forms, and heat radiations. He also had new metal kneecaps where he previous kneecaps had been completely torn to shreds by Regal. Overall, Spike was much more impressive and powerful looking than ever before.  
"Interesting outer developments, but what new powers does he have?" Dr. Eggman asked curiously.  
The scientist who had snapped smiled, "Spike is now equipped with hover boots that allow him to easily travel at speeds previously only reached in his ball state. He now also has small internal firecrackers if you will, within his lower wrist on his right hand. A small flamethrower comes out of his lower wrist with his newly developed chrome hand, and he can use the heat waves within that source to shoot small fireballs with temperatures of up to 300 degrees," the scientist explained, and Eggman started holding his hands together, excited about his new super warrior.  
"However, his most impressive upgrade is an upgrade made to his previous finishing attack," the scientist said. "By inserting plastic tubes and railing within his body, Spike can now shoot his needles in any way he wants, without having to shoot them in all directions. This will prevent him from killing his allies, and can allow him to shoot less needles with a much higher velocity."  
"EXCELLENT WORK!" Eggman cheered happily, "He's amazing!"  
Lunar grunted, and Eggman's smile became a small grin, "Spike, kill these worthless humans," Eggman said, pointing to the scientists.  
"What are you doing Doctor?" the scientists panicked, and all ran against the wall.  
Spike's hover shoes kicked in at this moment, and his sharp metal fingers on his right hand opened up and billions of microscopic needles were fired in their direction, and their direction only. Within a second of fire, their bodies had been completely covered with needles so that you couldn't even see their faces.  
"Lunar, take out the trash!" Eggman ordered as he wrapped his arm around Spike's shoulder, "I believe you will be a nice replacement for Zephyr, what do you think?"  
Spike's scanner on his left eye glowed red, and he smiled, "I'm going to kill Sonic!"


	24. Chapter 23

-1**Chapter 23: The Final Assault**

Three days came and went, and as the sun slowly rose over the horizon on the fourth day, Sonic and his friends knew that the final battle was approaching. All of their hardships, the deaths of their friends, and foes that had no reason to die would all be avenged. This was it…the final assault.  
Sonic the Hedgehog, Jet the Hawk, Wave the Swallow, Storm the Albatross, Espio the Chameleon, and Tick the Armadillo stood on the high cliff, and stared down upon Dr. Eggman's laboratory where Knuckles, Tails, and Rouge still remained captive.  
Out of all the heroes, Sonic had been acting unusually strange, fighting with rage, and using hatred as his excuse, Sonic was killing without remorse, yet killing for his friends. Espio sensed this hatred, and began to slowly worry about Sonic, knowing that in order for them to win, he'd have to fight for his old reasons: freedom.  
They skidded down the mountainside, and after an hour, they were in front of the laboratory they had traveled so far to make it to.  
"This is it," Tick said in awe.  
Sonic remained silent, yet had many thoughts of revenge flying by in his head. He cracked his knuckles and scowled, "Let's do it," he said, but just then, the doors swung open towards them, and hundreds of E-Bots came marching out of the lab.  
"There's no way, how on Earth did they know we'd be here so soon?" Espio panicked.  
Sonic grinned, "No matter, let's just take 'em all down!" he ordered.  
The heroes stood their ground as these new advanced versions of the previously modeled E-Bots came marching out, just then a lone figure came flying out of the lab, soaring above all the robotic warriors. He shot upwards and then came smashing back into the ground facing the heroes revealing himself as Spike the Porcupine.  
"Spike, you survived!" Tick said with glee, and rushed forward.  
Spike aimed his palm at the rushing Tick, "NO DON'T DO IT!" Sonic commanded quickly, but Tick didn't listen, he wanted to be once again with his former friend.  
Spike's scanner glowed red, and a small silver tube came out of his lower wrist, and a fireball came shooting out of it. Tick didn't realize what had happened, but it was already too late, he fell to the cold earth forever.  
"YOU MONSTER, HE WAS ONE OF YOUR TEAMMATES!" Sonic cried, now yelling like a monster, gripping his head and falling to his knees.  
With one snap of his fingers, Spike had seemingly ordered the E-Bots to raise their weapons, Ectoplasm Beam, "Fire…" he said quietly, and blasted into the air.  
Jet grabbed Espio and took off into the air, and Wave and Storm followed. Sonic stood up with fire in his eyes, and stood his ground, "Sonic Wind!" he bellowed, and vanished in a flash of blue light.  
Slowly, each of the E-Bots started exploding as Sonic bashed into them with mighty Homing Attacks and kicks. He wiped out about half of them before he appeared back in front of them. The other heroes reappeared behind Sonic and breathed heavily.  
"You fight with much rage," Spike said coolly, "It will be your undoing."  
Sonic howled with rage, and launched a Homing Attack unlike any other, his heart and soul in this attack. Spike stuck out his newly acquired metal fingers and opened the tips. Billions of needles shot out, hitting their target.  
Sonic fell hard to the ground and quickly uncurled, revealing himself to be in worse shape than Shadow when he fell.  
"No, not here, not now…SONIC!" Espio panicked, and rushed towards Spike and released a mighty kick.  
Spike fired another fireball at Espio, but it only nicked him so that he was badly burned, but still alive.  
"I'll handle the robots, you get Spike!" Jet ordered, preparing for a mighty attack.  
Jet's eyes glowed green like Zephyr's had previously, and he created a Cyclone that lifted all the robots into the air, and with dozens of bolts of lighting, the robots fell.  
Wave and Storm charged Spike, who hovered over them and kicked Storm crashing into the mountain.  
Spike landed gently on a high ledge, "Tend to your leader fools," he said smugly.  
Jet, Espio, Wave, and Storm all rushed toward Sonic, who was breathing heavily.  
"Use the Chaos Emerald you fools!" said an unknown voice, which obviously wasn't Spike's. 


	25. Chapter 24

-1**Chapter 24: Vengeance of a Warrior**

Everybody turned to see who had spoken, and as the red and black hedgehog slowly walked fourth, everybody was speechless. He walked slowly and picked up the Chaos Emerald from Espio's grip. He raised it above his head and chanted something, and before anybody knew it, small rays of light were entering Sonic's body, restoring him back to life.  
"H-how…you're dead!" Jet shrieked.  
Shadow placed the Chaos Emerald on the ground gently, and helped Sonic to his feet. When Sonic regained his senses, his eyes widened so much that it almost completely covered his face, "Sh-Shadow…You're alive!" he said eagerly and his heart rose to new heights.  
"Yes, but there's no time to explain now…I will do that in time, but now I must take care of some old business," Shadow stated quietly, staring up at the now half-metal Spike.  
Spike leapt to the ground and scowled, "I thought you were dead," he said truthfully.  
Shadow forced a laugh, "I told you, you didn't win that day, now I'm going to show you my real power!" he roared, grabbing the Chaos Emerald.  
"What's this?" Spike asked curiously.  
"CHAOS COMMAND!" Shadow roared furiously, and the ground started shaking. Shadow looked at Sonic and his friends, "You must leave now!" he ordered.  
Sonic and his friends did just that, and as the observed the battle from a small cavern, they watched as Shadow's entire body glowed red, "How'd he do it?" Wave asked.  
"I think it had something to do with the Chaos Emerald," Sonic responded, "but I'm not entirely sure yet."

Shadow bent his arms at 90 degree angles and held them close to his body, and bent his knees as he started to hover above the ground, the earth still shaking.  
Spike crossed his arms, and activated his hover boots, observing Shadow very carefully as if he were expecting something great.  
"CHAOS COMMAND FIRE!" Shadow screamed, and a red barrier circled Shadow, and then shrank down inside of his body.  
Shadow then put the bottom of his palms together and opened his hands, so that his palms were still aiming at Spike, and a small glowing sphere appeared in his hands.  
The red glowing sphere grew slightly bigger and Shadow unbent his elbows and stuck his hands straight out, and an enormous beam came shooting out of the much smaller sphere. The beam completely engulfed Spike, and the mountain behind him crumbled.  
As the smoke cleared, Spike stood no more. All that remained was a small mechanical finger, and a scanner that was once in his left eye. Shadow stomped down on his mechanical body parts, in his heart finishing the job. He stared out into the sky, "My vengeance is fulfilled," he said so quietly that it seemed he was talking to himself.  
Shadow turned around and slowly walked towards Sonic's group, ready to explain his amazing return. 


	26. Chapter 25

-1**Chapter 25: Haunting Visions**

As Shadow reached his friends, he got blank looks from each of them, after successfully defeating Spike within a matter of seconds, whereas they couldn't defeat him together.  
"So, how'd you do it?" Espio demanded, not overly happy to see the black hedgehog again.  
Shadow grunted, "It was quite simple you see," he started, "when I had the Chaos Emerald and fought against Spike in Nie, I had to transfer its power to me in order to use my moves. By doing so, I forever had the power of the Chaos Emerald in my veins. When Sonic touched my shoulder as I lay dying, the power was transferred to another, healthier living organism to remain alive itself. However, as the power transferred, so did a piece of my soul, which was then inverted into you Sonic."  
"So, is that why I've been acting so…crazy?" Sonic asked, slightly ashamed of his previous actions.  
Shadow nodded, "I'm sorry, but it was the only way for me to awaken from what could've been an eternal slumber…"  
"Okay, so you transferred powers of the Chaos Emerald and yourself into me…how did you wake up then? I saw you die!" Sonic demanded.  
Shadow closed his eyes slowly, "That is a bit more complicated, and I don't blame you if you can't comprehend the powers of the Chaos Emeralds. You see," he began, "after my soul and the power of the emerald were transferred into you, you held it forever…that is, until you touched the Chaos Emerald found within the Mystic Caverns. When you touched that emerald, and used your Sonic Wind attack, which is the equivalent of my Chaos Blast, you ejected the energy previously stored within your body from me, and that energy transferred to the last host: myself."  
"So that's when you woke up, when we found the last Chaos Emerald?" Sonic asked.  
"Yes, but to fully awaken my powers, I had to once again come in contact with a Chaos Emerald, which is why I needed the one you have now Sonic," Shadow explained, "by doing so, my powers previously put to sleep by the emerald Eggman has now, were awoken, and my powers became available to use once again."  
"Yes, it makes sense!" Jet said brilliantly, "You transfer your energy to Sonic, and allow the power to shut down, then take it back! After that, you were able to transfer the power of the Chaos Emerald, and yourself, back into your own body!" he shrieked.  
"So that means you couldn't take the energy back while it was still active, because your body wouldn't allow it…pure genius, you knew that in order to retrieve your life, you had to have its true power shut down and reenter your body," Espio said, actually congratulating Shadow.  
"Thank you, but now, I've got more troubling news. You see, while I was in a state of immobility and unconsciousness, my mind wandered freely through the terrains of Earth. I saw a vision, one of Dr. Eggman…" Shadow explained.  
"What about?" Wave asked.  
"WAIT!" Sonic interrupted, "Shadow, would we be able to use the power of this Chaos Emerald to bring back Vector, Charmy, and everybody else who died in this war?"  
Shadow sighed, "I'm sorry Sonic, but no…to do that, they would've had to use the Chaos Emeralds at least once, which I know they didn't…I'm sorry."  
Sonic closed his eyes, "Now then," Shadow started again, "the vision I saw was not an easy one to describe, you see…Dr. Eggman has made a few new discoveries since you all last saw him. To begin, he's figured out the flaw in his machine, and has now fixed it so that he can use it to its full capabilities without drawbacks. Also, your friends are in grave danger. Over the course of this week, Eggman's been testing his new concoctions on Tails, Knuckles, and Rouge, and they've been injected with immeasurable doses, causing them to mutate into creatures of darkness. They have no recollection of who they used to be, but they've been turned into what Dr. Eggman calls E-Humanoids, and they've all three been brainwashed, and their sole purpose in life is to see you dead, Sonic," Shadow said with uneasiness.  
Sonic looked up from the ground with his eyes wide open, "You mean, my friends are gone for good?"  
Shadow closed his eyes again, "Unfortunately, I have no way to know…there's nothing I can do myself, nor do I know of anybody who can do anything about this. If the time comes, we must strike them down if it means saving the entire world, however," Shadow insisted.  
"Never, I'll find a way to save my friends!" Sonic assured. 


	27. Chapter 26

-1**Chapter 26: Eggman's Last Stand**

As the heroes entered Eggman's laboratory, all was silent, "Crazy, I thought this place would be swarming with enemies," Storm managed to say.  
"As did I," Shadow said coolly, "but nonetheless, be careful, Eggman is not known for playing fair."  
As they continued to walk, all remained still, and as they entered the room where they had fought the Arcane Renegades previously, they saw the tables where Tails and Knuckles had previously been strapped were empty. Just then the door to Eggman's office opened up, and Dr. Eggman himself walked out in one of his E-Walkers, which he sat in and controlled.  
"Sonic the Hedgehog, we meet again," the twisted madman said gleefully, "are you ready to conclude this wretched battle?"  
"You know it!" Sonic roared, stepping forward, "I will NOT let you escape after what you did to my friends you freak!"  
Eggman grinned, "You're a crackup Sonic, always so oblivious to your surroundings."  
Just then Sonic was hit hard from behind and went flying into a test tube table and sent liquids flying everywhere. The rest of the heroes turned around to see a snowy white wolf.  
"Allow me to introduce my top warrior, Lunar the Wolf," Eggman sneered, "seeing as you defeated Zephyr, my second top warrior, I believed it was time for something extra special."  
Lunar growled and raised his sharp paw, and slashed Espio across the eye, and blood rushed down his cheek.  
Shadow used a Homing Attack, but Lunar jumped over the hedgehog and kicked him even faster so that he ran into Wave.  
Storm reached back and threw a punch, which Lunar caught and matched Storm's strength, and squeezed Storm's hand so hard that every bone in his hand broke.  
Storm screamed and stumbled backwards until Lunar stuck all four of his razor sharp claws in Storm's gut, and reached in far enough to put Storm asleep forever.  
"No, this can't be…" Jet stuttered, "You can't take him from me!" he cried, and rushed forward, throwing a mighty punch.  
It hit Lunar square in the face, but it had no effect whatsoever, and Lunar easily sank his fangs into Jet's neck.  
Jet fell back hard, still alive, but barely. As for Storm, it was over, he had stopped breathing completely.  
Wave jumped forward, but she too was brushed away like a fly into yet another tube of water.  
Sonic and Shadow limped forward, "What now?" Sonic asked.  
"Give me the Chaos Emerald," Shadow ordered.  
Sonic pulled out the glowing red emerald and held it in front of him, "Give it to me," Lunar hissed.  
Sonic grinned, "SONIC WIND!" he bellowed, and blew Lunar into the back wall. He then threw the emerald to Shadow, but as it was in the air, a mechanical arm reached out and grabbed it.  
Eggman's walker had turned and ran back into the office, where he jammed the doors. They then heard his voice on speaker, "Lunar, take them out and report in my office immediately!"  
Lunar pounced and punched Sonic sideways with a hook, and then did a tornado kick in the air to knock Shadow the opposite direction.  
"We have to get in that room!" Sonic panicked.  
Shadow stood in front of Lunar, "I'll keep him busy, try to break down the door Sonic!" he ordered, and Sonic didn't hesitate at all.  
Lunar shot his claws forward yet again, but Shadow managed to barely dodge them with a sidestep, and then use a fiery punch to flip Lunar onto his back.  
Sonic used his most powerful Homing Attacks, but the door had to at least of been a foot thick, there was no way to do it on his own. He tried yet again, but once again he efforts failed him.  
Lunar jumped to his feet and kicked Shadow in the stomach, and then pounced at an unsuspecting Sonic, and knocked him sideways again.  
The two heroes struggled, but even together could not defeat this awesome fighter. 


	28. Chapter 27

-1**Chapter 27: A Hopeless Position**

Sonic and Shadow stood up together, and looked at their foe. Lunar the Wolf was the most powerful fighter either one of them had ever faced. They both looked around and saw the remaining heroes scattered around the ground, some dead, some still alive.  
Lunar paced back and fourth, never removing his red eyes from the hedgehogs. When he finally stopped, Sonic and Shadow got in fighting stances. Lunar scowled, "You two will never stop us," he assured, and pounced forward.   
Shadow leapt forward, the two clashed. A huge red light flashed, and one warrior was sent flying out of the ball: Shadow. Lunar safely fell to his feet, and Shadow was against the wall with his eyes shut.   
Lunar raised his hand, and a small clear ball appeared in his palm, he then aimed at Sonic and fired it forward. Sonic jumped over it, but it was traveling extremely fast, and hit the wall and blew a hole through it, revealing Eggman's office.  
"Uh-oh, that's not good," Lunar growled, and tried to chase Sonic, who was running around the room so fast he was invisible to Lunar.  
Eggman was in the room beyond that of his office, where another blocked the entrance, but this one was not anywhere near as heavy duty, and could easily be broken down.  
Sonic stopped next to Shadow and helped him up, "Shadow, you've gotta hold his attention, I'll go finish Eggman off!" the blue hedgehog suggested as a battle plan.  
Shadow gripped his head and slowly nodded, "I won't last, but I'll see what I can do…"  
They shook hands, and glared at the snowy white wolf that was ready to pounce. Sonic dashed forward, and then hit a 90 degree angle into the office.  
Shadow jumped in the air, his fists glowing red, "Take this you beast!" he said courageously, and fired two red energy balls from his hand, both of which bounced off Lunar without doing anything.  
Lunar jumped and grabbed Shadow by the shoulders, swung him around, and slammed him against the wall. Still holding him with one hand, Lunar slashed Shadow across the face with his opposite hand, then threw him across the room so that he slammed into and shattered a large piece of glass.  
Shadow stumbled to his feet and looked forward, but Lunar was already on the move, and in the air. He kicked Shadow sideways and picked up a large glass container that was the size of Shadow, and threw it on top of him. When all the water inside of the glass flooded away, Shadow had blood all over his face, and was down for the count.

When Sonic busted the door down with a Homing Attack, he entered the room and saw a glowing machine with all seven Chaos Emeralds in it. Also in the room was Eggman in his E-Walker, his back turned to Sonic. As Sonic walked forward, Eggman turned around and smiled, "So, you made it Sonic."  
Sonic gritted his teeth, "Time for you to pay up doc!" he commanded.  
Eggman snapped his fingers, and Sonic was knocked sideways by Lunar, who had already finished with Shadow.  
Sonic skidded across the ground and slowly opened his eyes, "Lunar, hold it," Eggman ordered, "open the E-Humanoid cages."  
Lunar didn't like the idea of somebody else doing his job, but he didn't refuse his boss, and opened three cages and out of them came three familiar faces: Rouge, Tails, and Knuckles.  
All three of Sonic's former friends had glowing white eyes, and their pupils had completely vanished.  
"No, I won't fight them! They're my friends!" Sonic cried.  
Knuckles rushed forward and punched Sonic in the jaw, and he spun around and fell back to the ground, now bleeding once again.  
Sonic grabbed a pole above him and pulled himself back up, looking around the room. He didn't know what to do, three of his friends were against, him, and so was his arch enemy. Above that, a new warrior with the strength to even conquer Shadow was against him, Sonic didn't know what to do.


	29. Chapter 28

-1**Chapter 28: Chaos Fusion**

Sonic didn't know what to do, and he was not about to kill his friends whom he had traveled all this way to save. He stepped back slowly, and watched as his enemies closed in on him. Just then a black and red ball came soaring through, nailing Tails, Rouge, and Lunar sideways.  
"Sonic, we have to regroup!" Shadow shouted.  
Sonic dashed forward to Shadow, "There's no time! We have to stop Eggman now!"  
Shadow grunted, jumped into the air, and used a Homing Attack that knocked Knuckles backwards.  
Eggman shrieked with laughter, and used a mechanical arm to punch Shadow out of the room. Sonic used a Homing Attack and knocked Eggman's E-Walker down. He then grabbed all seven Chaos Emeralds as quickly as possible, and darted out of the room, managing only to grab Shadow.

The heroes bombarded their way out of the laboratory, managing to stop when they made it outside, Sonic crying harshly.  
Shadow slowly got up, "Sonic, you left them?" he asked, very surprised at Sonic's choice.  
Sonic didn't respond, but continued to cry, "You did the right thing…" Shadow assured.  
"HOW DO YOU KNOW? MY FRIENDS ARE GOING TO DIE AND IT'S ALL MY FAULT SHADOW! YOU FOOL, DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT I'VE DONE?" he roared, and punched Shadow in the face.  
Shadow pushed himself to his feet, and picked up the seven Chaos Emeralds, "No, you didn't. If we work quickly enough, we can save them. There's only one way though."  
"How?" Sonic asked, tears and blood streaming down his face.  
"It is said that when all seven Chaos Emeralds are together, there is a power that can be activated when two warriors of similar size and abilities can perform…fusion…" Shadow explained.  
Sonic gazed at Shadow expressionless, "I've never tried it myself," Shadow started again, "but I know if we manage to fuse, our power will be unmatched by anybody in that room!"   
"Let's do it…" Sonic said.  
The two hedgehogs lined the Chaos Emeralds up and raised their hands into the air, "Now, just do as I say!" Shadow ordered, "Chaos Emerald Power activate! Chaos Fusion!"  
With a blinding white light that could be seen through cracks in the doors of the laboratory, the two hedgehogs vanished, and a single warrior appeared in their place, standing in the middle where they had been.  
This new warrior was completely white, with several black areas, he had an aura glowing around him with temperatures over boiling.  
He walked forward and slammed the door open, and slowly walked forward, each step he took, steam was released onto the ground.

"FOOL, STOP THEM!" Eggman ordered Lunar.  
The wolf leapt forward and exited the room, but as he exited, he was quickly thrown back in by an unknown force. Slowly, a white hedgehog entered the room.  
"What in God's name are you?" Dr. Eggman demanded.  
"You can call me Mach," the warrior said, his voice medium-deep and his posture perfect.  
"Well, you're a most impressive warrior, how about joining me?" Eggman asked persuasively.  
The warrior laughed, and clenched his fist and held it out in front of his face, it glowed black, and when aimed at Eggman, fired and destroyed his E-Walker.  
Dr. Eggman slowly got up, "E-Humanoids, take him!" the doctor ordered.  
Mach slowly levitated himself into the air, and glowed an even brighter white, and Tails, Knuckles, and Rouge all stopped dead in their tracks. Their eyes slowly turned back to normal, and they all fell to the ground. Mach then landed safely back to the ground.  
Just then Lunar pounced out of nowhere, but with one punch to the stomach, Mach killed Lunar with the utmost ease.  
"Who…who are you?" Eggman shrieked.  
"I am neither Sonic nor Shadow…" Mach said coolly, "We are one, I am they, they are me…"  
"What? I don't understand, explain yourself fool!" the doctor ordered, but then it hit him, "…you fused? You…Sonic, fused with Shadow? Impossible, how?"  
"You can thank the Chaos Emeralds fool!" Mach blasted at him, and then dashed forward and used the strongest Homing Attack ever preformed, and destroyed the machine Eggman had previously intended on using for world domination.  
"There's one more thing left to do…" Mach said quietly, and glowed white once again, as Eggman crawled forward and started crying at the sight of his machine being destroyed.

Around the world, certain people then reported seeing white glowing lights around the city of Nie, the Mystic Caverns, and Metal City, and people once thought to be dead awoke from eternal slumber.

"What are you doing?" Eggman demanded, still on his hands and knees, looking up at the legendary super warrior.  
"I have undone all of your pain, I have restored those who have fallen at the hands of this war…" Mach explained.  
Eggman looked over his shoulder, and saw that Lunar was still out cold, "But…Lunar?"  
Mach shook his head, "Let this be a lesson to you, I will not kill you today you greedy monster, but just know there will always be somebody around to stop you."  
Just then Jet, Storm, Wave, and Espio rushed into the room, and Tails, Knuckles, and Rouge all got to their feet.  
"What's going on?" Tails asked, rubbing his head.  
"Who-who are you?" Espio demanded.  
All seven Chaos Emeralds slowly appeared one-by-one around Mach, and they started rapidly spinning around him, and with another flash of light, Mach had defused back into Sonic and Shadow the Hedgehogs.  
"So, it's true, you did fuse," Tails said, "I saw you, but I couldn't help myself…I'm sorry…"  
Sonic patted Tails on the back, "It's not your fault," he assured his friend, as Eggman pounded his fists on the ground.  
"So, we're safe now?" Rouge asked.  
"Yes," Shadow responded, "Thanks to the Chaos Emeralds," he finished, and just then the Chaos Emeralds vanished, to unknown regions.  
"What about those who fell?" Jet asked, "Vector, Charmy…will they be okay?"  
Sonic grinned, "Everybody who didn't deserve to die in this war was restored," he answered.

As the heroes left the laboratory once again, they looked back, trying to forget the hardships they faced in the war. Dr. Eggman had once again been defeated, and the world was safe. Sonic and Shadow managed to restore everybody who died, including the leader of the Chaotix Detective Agency, Vector, and the bumbling warrior Charmy. They all went their separate directions, and heard nothing of Eggman's schemes for quite some time.


End file.
